A Frothy Fiasco: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Home Mystery Series Book 3) (2 page)

Chapter Two

“Ten o’clock in the morning, and it’s already 88 degrees,” groused Essie. “My Lord, if this keeps up there won’t be enough ambulances to cart away the old folks in the village collapsing from heat stroke.”

“Bite your tongue, Esther Finch!” Hildie admonished as she followed her sister into the Coffee Cabana carrying a small box of donuts and one chocolate chip muffin. “Now you’ve put a curse on the whole town! Besides, there’ll be no complaining on the Lord’s Day.”

“A day without complaining isn’t worth getting out of bed for, Hildie. Don’t take away all my fun.” Essie tossed her purse onto a table and collapsed into the chair.

“Good morning, ladies,” I chirped. “Coffee, anyone?”

“How about turning a hose on me,” Essie said as she fanned her face with the coffee menu.

Hildie shook her head as she set the sweets on the counter. “I’ll just get myself a water, dear.”

“Okay, then. I’ll drink alone.” I had to have my caffeine to start my day, heat or no heat. “So, are you ready to learn how to make espressos?”

“And frappes and smoothies!” It was Jules, pushing though the door with a bag of groceries in one arm and a huge plastic shopping bag from the outlet mall hanging from her other hand.

Hildie took the grocery bag and set it on the counter, and Jules lifted the white outlet bag onto one of the stools. She pulled two boxes out of it, each with a brand new blender inside.

“I figured with this heat, people will want something cold to drink instead of hot coffee.”

“You got that right,” Essie said.

“There’s one blender for iced coffee drinks and one for fruit smoothies.” Then Jules pulled bananas, strawberries, peaches, blueberries, chocolate chips, and a squeeze bottle of caramel topping out of the grocery bag. “This should be a good start for now. Aaaand…” She got one more item out of the white plastic bag. “I got one of those CO2 canisters. Just pour in the cream, pull the trigger, and it comes out whipped…to top off the drinks.”

“I’ll wash the blenders and the fruit,” Hildie said as she gathered the items and then went to work.

I was really surprised that Jules had such a big smile and bounce in her step after losing her ring yesterday.

“Good morning, girls. Ready to espresso yourselves? You want me to flip this sign over to
Open
?”

“Good morning, Tony.” I greeted. “No. Leave it on
Closed
during the training, but we’ll leave it unlocked for the regulars. They won’t know what to do with themselves if they can’t get in here.”

“Jules…you look like you’re in a better mood today,” he said as he came behind the counter and turned on the evil little machine.

Jules nodded her head excitedly, and flashed her bejeweled finger with the precious ring on it.

“That’s great!” he said with a big smile and wide eyes. “So you left it at home then, I guess.”

“No!” Jules shook her head and then turned and hugged me tightly. “Lily found it here and then dropped it off at my house when she watered my flower garden.”

Tony looked surprised.

“Oh, Lily…thank you, thank you, thank you! Yesterday turned out to be the best day ever.” Then she whispered in my ear, “We sold the house in Orlando!”

Well, that explained her shopping spree, since she’d been worried about finances lately. She and her ex owned a house in Orlando, but he was living there and claiming it was his. I guess the court finally convinced him otherwise.

But there was one problem: I didn’t find her ring. I did water her flower gardens, but I didn’t bring the ring back to her. It must have been there, and she just assumed I brought it. Anyway…time for training.

Tony went over the process with us – grinding the beans finely in the attached grinder, tamping down the grounds, attaching the filter tightly, letting the crema form on top, steaming the milk for lattes and cappuccinos – the whole nine yards.

Essie and Hildie lost focus about halfway through when Harvey came in with Toe Thompson.

“Aunties, are you going to be able to do this when I’m not here?”

“How hard can it be?” Essie shrugged it off and brought Toe a cup of coffee. “It’s coffee grounds and water…and a little steam in the milk.”

“Just make sure he leaves the instruction book, dear,” Hildie added with a smile. Then she brought Harvey his coffee and the chocolate chip muffin.

“Mmm. That looks pretty good.” Toe looked at the muffin with a lusty eye. “I’ll have one of those too.”

Essie walked to the counter and put one of the plain cake donuts on a plate and set it down in front of him. He and Harvey looked at each other, and a big smile grew on Harvey’s face.

“Looks like my girl likes me more than your girl likes you, Toe.”

“Nonsense. Neither of us likes either of you two old coots. We’re just closed today for training, so we didn’t bake anything.” Essie was a good liar when she wanted to be.

“And we’ve been saving a muffin for Harve every day for years – long before we ever let you two escort us to dinner or dancing. That one’s from yesterday,” Hildie added. “And you two are the only ones around here who’ll play cribbage with me. That’s all I’m looking for in a man.”

And that was the truth. Hildie was never married and never wanted to be. But she did enjoy a little companionship now and then.

“This donut is exactly what I wanted, Essie. Perfect for dunking. Why don’t you girls join us for a cup?”

“We’ll think about it – if you codgers will make yourselves useful and stop by the house tomorrow to help us paint our latticework arch.”

“You girls always have the best looking yard on Peach Tree Lane,” Harvey said, “but Toe here is the handyman. He probably has the brushes and ladder to knock that thing out in half an hour.”

“Yes, Indeed. Just leave the paint on the front steps, and it’ll be done for you by lunch time.” Toe had a big smile for Essie and looked like he couldn’t wait to help out his favorite girl. Essie was doing her best to conceal her smile, but it came through anyway. She was in no hurry to have a man in her life. She’d been widowed for several years now since Uncle Joe passed from a heart attack, but I think she missed having a man around.

Well, they started talking about the heat and all the new kids in town, so the aunts were a lost cause at this point. But they can probably manage to put ice in the blender with coffee or fruit. Tony turned around to slide one of the blenders over for the frappe lesson.

“What’s this?” I asked as I playfully snapped the stretchy finger of a blue plastic glove sticking out of his back pocket, “Do a little brain surgery on the side?”

Tony was a little red-faced as he pushed the gloves down in his pocket and chuckled. “Aw, I wish. I have to use those when I open up a machine sometimes so the electrovalent charges in my skin don’t short out any of the tiny capacitors or anything. A shot of static electricity can screw these things up pretty good. So, where’s the ice?”

We spent nearly an hour making frappes and smoothies. It was fun, and we had a lot of laughs – and a lot of smoothies and frappes. We all enjoyed Tony’s wit and stories so much, and he talked with the guys and the aunts for a while too, bringing them samples of our cold beverages to taste. The caramel mocha frappes were a big hit, and so were the strawberry banana smoothies.

“Essie and Hildie, do you ladies need a ride home?” Tony asked as he stood up to go. “I’m heading back to Sabina, so I have to go right past the village.”

“Thanks, Tony,” Hildie said, “but we need to stay here for another couple of hours. And we have our golf cart here too.”

“That fancy buggy with the flamingos is yours? I like the lights strewn over it. Gives it finesse.”

He shook Harvey’s hand and then put his hand on Toe’s shoulder and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “Be careful with Essie now…she’s a real fire cracker…but I’m sure you already know that.”

Tony patted Toe’s back and then looked at Jules and me. “And don’t you two break that thing now. I’ll stop by in a day or two to have a cappuccino.” He winked at Jules and left.

“Jules,” I said, half seriously and half in jest, “you don’t keep breaking that coffee machine so Tony will have to come back and fix it do you?”

She looked at me like I was accusing her of murder. “Seriously? He’s a good looking guy and all, but he’s not my cup of tea – or espresso. His cheesy smile reminds me too much of my ex, and that just creeps me out.”
“Well, he’s sure got eyes for you. Maybe he’ll grow on you.”

We flipped the sign on the door to
Open
, but with the mercury heading for triple digits, there weren’t a lot of people rushing in for coffee.

“I guess we should make some signs for the window for the cold drinks. I got the markers and poster board. Can I borrow some of your artistic talent, Jules?”

We left the aunts and the boys to themselves and set up shop at the counter. Jules could have been an artist and quickly sketched out signs for the espressos, frappes, and fruit smoothies, and we both started filling them in with the colored markers. I started with a big blue “Ice Cold” at the top.

Time flew by, and pretty soon the boys got up to leave.

“Where’s my pen now, dang it,” said Toe tapping his chest pocket. “I want to put your arch on my calendar so I don’t forget about it in the morning. Well, I got a bunch in the car. See you all now.”

Toe used his pens like business cards and always had a boxful with his name and phone number. “I‘ve got to go too,” Harvey said climbing out of his chair. “Don’t forget your dohicky,“ Toe said as he picked up Harvey’s iPad and handed it to him. Harvey waved his farewell, and the boys were gone.

The aunts, Jules and I performed a few chores around the shop and then I motioned towards Essie and Hildie.

“Why don’t you ladies take off too? There’s nothing happening here. Jules and I will watch the shop, and if nobody comes we’ll just lock up early.”

“That would be great, Lily. I need to get home and enjoy some of that air conditioning. Come on, Hildie.” A minute later they were rolling down the street in their golf cart.

Lily waved to them from the door and then to a middle-aged couple who had been preparing the storefront across the street for a new business. Then they went inside and sat under the fan.

“You know, Jules, things have really slowed down as we got close to summer, and we really need this espresso thing to draw in the younger crowd, or we’re going to be in financial trouble soon.” Jules and I share everything and it felt good to be able to tell someone my concerns about the financial hardship I was afraid was looming on the horizon.

“Don’t worry, babe. It’s going to work. There are more people coming to town every day, and a good coffee house is in big demand. Besides, I’m going to help you advertise.”

I laughed a little. “Well, these window signs will help a little, but they’re not going to turn things around for us.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

Now I was curious and gave her an inquisitive look.

“I told you we finally sold the house.”

“Yeah, but you only owned it for a couple of years, so there can’t be that much equity.”

“Well…we bought it cheap. The market was depressed when we first got married. And now the theme parks there have expanded, and real estate is booming, and our house is now in a high demand area. The value doubled.”

Okay, I was
really
interested now. But I tried to remain cool.

“Nice. And?”

“And, so that’s why Mark finally decided to go along with the sale. He gets six figures, and I get six figures, plus…”

“Plus?”

“…plus I get half of his share as a lump sum settlement in lieu of spousal support. I mean, he’s a plastic surgeon, so he should have been paying me a lot and would have to keep paying me until I remarried. I never pushed it, because, you know…that’s not me. I just figured it’s his money. He earned it, not me.”

“But then that attorney you were always complaining about found an opportune moment to cash in for himself – and you! I’m so happy for you, Jules. You deserve it.”

“So…what do you think about me buying Francine Diddlemeier’s printing press and starting up a little weekly newspaper and shopper with ads for all the local shops? And free ads for the Coffee Cabana until you get back on your feet?”

I didn’t even have time to process a thought in my brain about Jules’ idea when my phone rang. It was Auntie Essie.

“Did you forget something?”

“Lily…” Essie sounded frantic. “I’ve been robbed!”

Chapter Three

By the time I got to the house on Peach Tree Lane, there were three police cars with lights flashing plus Eli’s unmarked detective’s car out front. There were a dozen golf carts and a gallery of curious onlookers gathered as well.

Eli was waiting on the steps for me as I ran towards the house. We embraced and he guided me inside. Essie was sitting in a chair in the dining room, and Hildie was standing over her, rubbing her shoulders.

“What happened? Were you here? Did they hurt you? What was stolen?” My eyes danced between Essie and Eli. Eli spoke first.

“It was a burglary. Someone came in and took her jewelry while she was out.”

“I went to put my earrings away, and everything was gone.”

The crime scene investigators were dusting the doorknobs in the front and back, looking for a point of entry, and taping off the bedroom and kitchen areas. They had just arrived too.

“Now, Essie,” Eli said gently, “I need to ask you a few questions, starting with what’s missing.”

“Everything,” Essie said, matter-of-factly. I expected her to be crying and more upset, but maybe the shock hadn’t worn off yet.

“I’ll need a list, and your insurance company will need the same list, so try to be precise.”

Essie listed several necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and rings, and Hildie helped her out with the particulars too.

“How about you, Hildie? Is any of your jewelry missing?”

“Nope. They went in my room and opened up my jewelry box, but I guess they didn’t see anything they liked.”

Eli and I gave each other a puzzled look.

“Did you hear anything when you came in, Essie?”

“No. Just a cat screeching in the alley. I think some youngsters might have been speeding through there, cause I heard some tires squealing after that. Nothing unusual though.”

Eli made a few notes. “Okay, now what was each of the items worth.”

Essie and Hildie looked at each other like two schoolgirls who just got caught throwing rocks at the building.

“Uhm well…maybe a hundred dollars,” Essie said, and Hildie nodded her agreement.

“Which item?”

“Um…all of them.”

“Okay, so one-hundred dollars each?”

“No. All together.”

Eli put his pen down on his pad and looked at Essie.

“Well,” she said, “I keep the real gems in my safe deposit box at the bank and just take them out for special occasions. This is just my everyday costume jewelry.”

“I see.”

“But somebody broke into our house!” Hildie said in defense of her sister. “If we were here they might have killed us! Our home has been violated.”

“Do you have an alarm or security cameras, ladies?”

“What for?” Essie responded. “We live in Sinking Springs Village. There’s nobody here younger than 55.”

One of the uniformed officers came over and whispered something in Eli’s ear.

“Ladies,” Eli said standing up, “I’ve gotta go. Seems there’s been an incident with one of the residents in the assisted living condos. Officer Crenshaw will be in charge here until the team finishes up. Let her know if you think of anything else that could be helpful.”

“Another robbery, Eli?” Essie asked.

“I don’t know the details. Perhaps the heat just got to her.”

“Is somebody…dead?” Hildie slid her eyes slowly toward her sister, whom she accused of cursing the town earlier.

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

I walked Eli to the door and held his arm tightly. “If it weren’t for criminal activity, we wouldn’t see much of each other,” I said with a tight-lipped smile. “Can you call me later? I mean, just to talk before I turn in. Don’t worry if this keeps you out late. I won’t be able to sleep anyway.”

He smiled and put his sparkly eyes close to mine. “I will always have time for you, Lily.” He squeezed my hand. Now my bland day just became perfect.

I went back in and poked my head over the yellow tape across the kitchen doorway. “Officer Crenshaw…Karen.”

“Hi, Lily. What’s up?”

“Did you figure out how they got in? And will the girls get their place back before bedtime, or should I take them home with me?”

Karen was from my high school class. She looked pretty good in her uniform and with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. She was probably about ten pounds heavier than me  (yes, I’m still 20 pounds overweight; maybe 22 now), but everything looked so tight in that uniform. I wondered why I couldn’t look that good. She smiled and walked to meet me at the doorway.

“It looks like they punched a small panel of glass out above the doorknob and opened the door. No fingerprints, just a trace of some kind of white powder on the knob. It’s probably nothing. And they left the door open on the way out. They’re just going to take a few more pictures, then we’ll have to grab the two jewelry boxes for a few days, but we’ll be out of your hair here in a minute.”

“Thanks, Karen. Say, what can you tell me about the incident in the assisted living unit?”

“Mrs. Portswain? Poor girl was found dead on her living room floor. 92 years old. The caller said he thought it was heat stroke, but I haven’t heard any official report yet. Not a word about this to anyone until it’s public information.”

Karen looked at her phone. “And now I’ve got to get everyone out of here because they want the whole team to join them over there at the Portswain unit.”

Karen noticed my concerned look, and her female instinct told her it wasn’t for Mrs. Portswain.

“And, yes, the text was from Eli. Sometimes we text when we don’t want civilians to hear our business on the walkie-talkie. But, sweetheart, that man is so in love with you, he doesn’t even know I’m a girl. Besides, my hubby’s on the force, remember?” She patted my cheek. “I never could compete with that face and curvy body of yours, Lily.”

It was a nice compliment that my inferiority complex (regarding my appearance, anyway) automatically rejected. I gave her a sarcastic “Aw, shucks” smile, and then she saw me glance toward her phone with the corner of my eye. She gave me a look and then held the face of the phone upward at waist height and looked around to make sure no one was observing.

The text was to her and Sarah Danton, the coroner:

Possible code 5 Portswain, Ass’t Lvg unit #111, report stat with csi. Eli

She winked at me and headed her crew out.

I had a feeling this Portswain thing was big, maybe a murder – and possibly connected to the break-in here. But I didn’t want my aunts to have any more stress to add to their night.

“Do you guys want to come home with me? Maybe you don’t feel comfortable here after all this.” 

“No way. This is our home,” Essie said, holding her head high. “Nobody’s going to scare us out. Besides…we have Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson to protect us.”

“And Mr. Glock,” Hildie added with a serious nod. “Besides,” she said, turning back into a Disney princess with a bluebird on her shoulder, “we’ve got muffins to bake tonight.”

What the? “Are you saying you have guns in the house? When did this happen?”

Essie put her hands on her hips. “After I learned that Jeanette was packing, I decided to sign Hilde and me up for the conceal and carry classes. Jeanette’s son was kind enough to help us at the shooting range, and to choose guns for our delicate hands.” Delicate my hiney. Those hands could mud wrestle a baboon.

“So no one thought it wise to inform me of this little venture.”

“Why?” Essie asked. “You didn’t tell me about Gladys’ flask or Jeanette’s pistol.”

“Neither did Hildie,” I whined. “Well anyway, just don’t shoot some poor soul, or yourselves…or me!”

I found a scrap of lumber to screw over the small broken window, and then prepared to leave, fairly at ease about the situation.

“Lily, could you set that bucket of paint under the end table by the door out on the steps, please? Toe is going to paint the arch for us in the morning,” Hildie said, pointing, as she opened the door for me.

“Sure thing,” I said. I couldn’t help but notice how much she looked like my mother with her sweet smile and the light shining on her face.

I got down on one knee to grab the bucket and pulled it out. Further behind it, just out of my reach, I saw a familiar yellow pen. “Did Toe bring the paint here for you, Hildie? I think I see one of his pens back here.”

“No, Toe hasn’t been here since he changed out that garbage disposal in the sink. That must have been two months ago.”

“Hold on,” I said and headed for the kitchen. “Don’t touch anything.”

I got a sandwich bag out of the drawer and grabbed a fork from the drying rack. Then I ran back to the doorway. I got down and reached under the table and a little bit under the sofa with the fork and scooted the pen into the plastic bag. I held it up, and we all looked at it and then at each other.

“Toe has only had these yellow pens for a couple of months,” Hildie said, “and we move the sofa out once a week to vacuum. Just did it yesterday.”

“That’s right,” Essie offered. “Toe used to have those dark red or blue ones, but I told him they were too hard to read his name and number; he should get yellow ones. And he did.”

“Hmm. Okay, so, I’ll set this outside for you then.”

Essie looked concerned. “You don’t think…”

“No…of course not, Essie.” Hildie assured Essie. “Toe is the dearest man in the world…no way he‘d steal from us.”

“I’m sure there’s some other explanation, Essie.”

“Are you going to turn that over to Eli, Lily?” I had never seen such a look of fear from a woman who always had everything under control.

“Essie, I’m going to find out what’s going on first. I promised Eli that I wouldn’t interfere with any police investigation after we held onto Mildred’s button that one time. Let’s see where the rest of the evidence points first.”

“You girls take care now, and don’t worry about getting to the shop on time – or at all.”

“We’ll be there, Lily. A burglar isn‘t going to throw us off our game.”

I knew it wouldn’t. These ladies had been through tough times. But I didn’t like the fact someone had broken into their home and made them feel vulnerable. That made my blood boil. When it comes to someone messing with my friends and family, I’m ready to pounce.