Chocolate Cream Cupcake & Murder (A Dana Sweet Cozy Mystery Book 3) (2 page)

She’d used up the last of her savings to help save her nana’s café from bankruptcy and changed the name and style, while adding her nana’s warm touch to the café and after a grand re-opening, the Cozy Cupcakes Café was now on its way to a new change.

One of the changes includes catering to the community. Last month they’d done Bea’s Salon and Nail Spa in downtown Berry Cove. And then the mayor had a party that required their pastries. And now the Berry Cove Gazette received Cozy Cupcakes catering for their weekly staff meetings.

Dana felt a lump climb in her throat. That one was awful because the critic who’d slammed the café’s re-opening turned up dead with a cupcake in his mouth.

Yeah, and she’d been questioned about it. Though she wasn’t a formal suspect.

Okay, positive thoughts, Dana. That was in the past. Focus on the present. The present is a gift to be opened, enjoyed and cherished. 
She recited one of the Cozy Cupcakes Saying of the Day, which often came with their treats. Something new Dana had thought of. Incorporating her nana’s wise sayings and using her former skills as a copywriter when she worked for a New York ad agency.

“By the way, is Mr. Renaldo here?”

“Well, of course he is. Somewhere. Can’t seem to find him. Just set those cakes down here. I’ll figure out what to do with them later. Make sure you let security know when you leave.”

“Sure will.”

The woman turned around to leave and left Dana alone, disillusioned.

Dana sighed deeply. She was glad she was only delivering there and didn’t live there. It was true, a house did not make a home. She certainly didn’t feel all warm and fuzzy and invited there.

She didn’t want the frosting to melt so she wandered around looking for the fridge. She was just told that they had more than one fridge. The kitchen had another adjacent area and she wondered over there with the tray of cupcakes.

Before she could get further, she tripped and fell smack hard on the ground. The cupcakes went splat right into her face. She had whipped cream and tasty fruity-filled cupcakes on her face. Great!

She was toast.

She was done for.

What the heck was in her way?

She got up, rubbing her aching shin and took a better look.

When she stood up and brushed herself off, she tried to wipe the frosting off her face along with the embarrassment she felt but it didn’t work quite well. She needed a mirror. She turned her gaze south to look down to see what she had tripped over.

What she saw was a long pair of black dress pants and shoes sticking out from beside the gigantic stainless steel fridge.

Oh, no.

Dana felt her stomach turn over.

Her heart stopped.

She gasped.

“Oh, my God!” Her heart pounded hard and galloped in her chest. She thought it was going to leap out of her body.

If she was not mistaken, it was Mr. Renaldo!

The rich elder groom-to-be. Or the rich elder groom-that-
was
!

Her customer.

This was terrible!

Dana’s eyes swept across his lifeless-looking body. Mr. Renaldo’s eyes were closed and his lips and skin looked as blue as the blueberries in the kitchen. She didn’t need to check his pulse or anything to realize one thing...

He was caput, all right.

Who on earth did this? How
did
he die?

Why, oh, why was it that she was always stumbling upon dead bodies?

“Has Dana left already?” Inga asked Katie. Inga had a spatula in her hand and some batter on her pink apron. A blond tendril was loose under her white chef’s hat. Her chef’s uniform was always pressed and in pristine condition and Katie often wondered how she kept it so neat.

“Yes, she has,” Katie said, gathering a tray of freshly baked chocolate cream-filled cupcakes, blueberry cream cupcakes and fresh blueberries on the side as part of their healthy conscious balanced treats to bring out to the front. She’d just swung back to the kitchen for more. They were going like crazy today.

Lizzy, their new barista, was busy at the side with the blender making some more apple pie smoothies. The sound of laughter and chatter coming from the dining area and soft jazz music playing over the speaker created a lively atmosphere as per the café’s new name and motto.

During the chill of fall, the business had gotten even busier with customers coming in to try their delicious warm apple pie smoothies with cozy piled-high whipped cream. The chocolate cream-filled cupcake was the café’s delicious dessert of the week and they were selling like hotcakes.

Katie had a sense of longing for Grandma Rae and wished she could have been there to see how they’d managed to turn the café around and bring business back.

“Well, she forgot to bring the new gold spoons for the cupcakes,” Inga said, pointing over to the left where a large box of deliveries stood on the counter.

“The new gold spoons?”

“Yes. The bride to be had requested gold-colored spoons and some edible gold for the engagement cake.”

Katie couldn’t resist but rolling her eyes. Though “edible gold” was actually 24 karat edible gold and was harmless, she often wondered why the super rich insisted on having some of that substance sprinkled on their cakes and desserts. Was it so that they could brag to their friends and acquaintances that they ate gold?

But then again, the bride-to-be’s name was
Goldie
, wasn’t it?

“No problem. I’ll just spin over there later and bring it to her,” Katie said, cheerfully. “The party doesn’t start until four o’clock. We should have plenty of time. I’m supposed to help Dana set up later, anyway.”

“Good and make sure she doesn’t forget anything else.” Inga’s thick Russian accent became more pronounced. “I can’t do everything, you know. I have to cook around here.”

“Sure, Inga. No problem.” Katie tried to keep as polite as possible. The best way to be around Inga was agreeable or else all hell would let loose. One would think Inga owned the café.

But long before Katie and later Dana became involved in running the café after Grandma Rae’s death, Inga had been the one to help Grandma Rae open up the café. And Grandma Rae had praised Inga for all her tireless work in the past and footing a lot of the bill when Grandma Rae didn’t have the funds earlier.

Dana and Katie often wondered how Inga really felt about Grandma Rae leaving the café to Dana to manage and Katie as a back up instead of any of the original staff members.

Inga was a smart and skillful chef who knew her way around the kitchen, but she also knew her way around avoiding socializing. Was that the reason Grandma Rae left the café to Dana who knew nothing about running a bakery before she came on board?

Inga rarely smiled or chatted up to her co-workers and she rarely spoke about her personal life, except that one time when she let out that her conniving step-daughter had ruined her marriage to her ex-husband. Her step-daughter was at one point a person of interest in a murder involving their Uncle Max.

When Katie went out into the dining area, she bumped into the glamorous widow, Gerdie-Sue, who looked as if she’d just had her eyebrows done again. Gerdie-Sue was a retiree and frequent visitor of the Cozy Cupcakes Café.

“Good morning Gerdie-Sue.” Katie placed the chocolate cream filled cupcakes on the counter and on the display ready to be sold.

“Good morning yourself,” Gerdie Sue said cheerfully.

“You’re looking quite well. Love your brows.”

“I just got ‘em done at Bea’s. You know she’s running a hot special this week.”

“I know.” Katie didn't want to say that Bea was running a special every week. Of course, if she was a widow at her age she would probably be at the salon every week socializing with her buddies, too. Gerdie was always having something done every week at the salon whether a color change to her hair, her nails done, her pedicure, facial, waxing, you name it. She would also come away with tons of juicy town gossip to share with whom ever would listen.

“I'll take a chocolate cream-filled cupcake today please. Oh, and make that half a dozen.”

“Half a dozen? You're busy today.”

“Course, I’ve got a meeting with my bridge club. It's my turn to bring the goods.”

“Sweet. I'm sure they'll enjoy these treats.”

“I'm sure they will.”

“There you go.” Katie placed the cupcakes into the special box with a pink ribbon on it and rang up the bill.

After the transaction was exchanged and Gerdie-Sue took her box of freshly baked goods, she leaned closer to Katie and whispered. Luckily, Lizzy was at the other cashier ringing up another order and there was no one else in line at the moment. Everyone was seated in the dining area enjoying their treats.

“You know,” Gerdie-Sue spoke, “old man Renaldo’s supposed to be having his engagement party today.”

“Yes I know. We’re catering his engagement party.”

“Well, good on you child. Just watch out for those people at the house when you go there. Don’t have your back turned for too long.”

“Excuse me? What do mean by that?” Katie’s curiosity was piqued. But more than that, she felt a chill run down her spine. Dana was there now! By herself!

“Oh, it’s nothing.”

“Gerdie-Sue.” Katie wiped her hands on her apron and moved from behind the counter as she noticed that Lizzy had tilted her head slightly in their direction as if she was listening to their conversation.

“Let me walk you to your car,” Katie insisted. “Lizzy, I’ll just be a second. Can you cover my cash register for me.” Katie knew that Gerdie-Sue was a busybody town gossip but she also looked out for the people of Berry Cove and she was also usually spot on with her news.

“Sure thing, boss,” Lizzy said.

“So what is this all about?” Katie asked, a few minutes later, as she held the box of baked cupcakes for Gerdie-Sue while she opened her car door.

“Well,” Gerdie said looking around. “You know I’m not one to gossip…”

Yeah, sure.
Katie wanted to roll her eyes and grin.

“But,” Gerdie continued. “that wife of his came into the salon the other day, to get her nails done.” Gerdie splayed her newly manicured French nails out for emphasize.

“And?”

“Well, not only was she a snooty little thing, turning up her nose at everyone there and demanding to be ahead of everyone who was already waiting, but when she was having her nails done and casually chatting with Tisha, one of the nail girls, she mentioned how much she was going to change things at the manor.”

“Change things? Why would she say that?”

“Oh, yes, child. Tisha mentioned that Jackie Renaldo was in the salon the other day, Tierry’s only daughter. And of course, she’d heard how Jackie’s been running her mouth all over town how they were gonna get rid of that gold-digger trying to marry their daddy. So Goldie said that she was gonna get rid of his kids first.”

“But she can’t do that.”

“Oh, yes, she can, apparently. Those grown-ass lazy kids of his don’t do anything but sleep in till noon and squander away his money. He had ‘em late in life. When he was in his fifties he’d married a very young wife number four and she’d given him those kids. Well, wifey four split now with a fortune of an alimony—just like the ones before. You know that saying: If a girl wants to be rich, just marry a gullible rich man without a prenup then divorce him later.”

“That’s awful, Gerdie-Sue. I’m sure the universe would pay back anyone who tried that.”

“Hmm-mmm, child. In dividends.” Gerdie-Sue winked.

“Well, anyway, I don’t believe any of it.”

“Oh, you’d better child. Those kids are apparently scheming to get rid of Miss Thing. And you know something. He was engaged about seventeen times.”

“Seventeen times?” Katie said, incredulously. She couldn’t wait to tell Dana all of this.

“Yep. Seventeen times.”

“Well, what happened? He wasn’t married seventeen times, why surely.”

“Nope. That’s because the kids are all crafty.”

“Crafty?”

“Yep. They made sure that many of his engagements never made it to the altar.”

“I had no idea that was going on.”

“Oh, yes. They don’t get along with anybody. I’m surprised the maid and butler stayed that long.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yes, child.” Gerdie patted her newly permed hairdo and brushed an imaginary hair off her shoulders. She always seemed to come alive when she was out spreading news like an entertainment reporter. Everybody came to Gerdie-Sue for news. She seemed to know everything about everyone in Berry Cove. How did she do it?

Still, as Dana once told Katie, that old adage often rang true: Those who gossiped to you,
will
gossip about you. They all liked Gerdie but they were sure as sin not to tell her their private business they wouldn’t want spread about town like a layer of butter on a toasted cheese sandwich.

“The maid and butler can’t stand the man. He always talks down to them like he was barking at them. And I hear he treats ‘em all like slaves and lets them wear Victorian-era clothes and all. Very old fashioned. They also have to address him as master. Can you believe that? No one can get along with old man Renaldo. He’s so hard to please. A grumpy mean old guy who gives his kids barely anything. That’s why they can’t afford to move out on their own. And who’s gonna go from living in a mansion to a roach-infested tenant housing to get by. Of course, they’d stay there getting free meals and a small allowance and still have a chance to borrow his expensive cars. That’s why his children figure that a pretty young face can’t be with him for his personality. He’s a cheapie, too. She’ll marry him and leave him in the dust.”

“But why doesn’t he just do a prenup?”

“Oh, child. You have a lot to learn about the legal system in this province. You sign a prenup, you’ve got to declare all the assets you have first. And he wouldn’t want to do that. He’s a sly one he is. Probably doesn’t want anyone to know what he really has. But then again, who could really blame him? I hear that he didn’t want to pay his lawyers the fee to draft it up—never mind give everyone an idea of all the stuff he really owns.”

“Oh, isn’t
that
something?”

“Told you he’s a cheapie.”

“He is? But he’s ordered a ton of cupcakes for his engagement party.”

“It that all?”

“Well, that’s plenty. We’re really glad for his business. Dana and I have been fighting hard keeping the café afloat…” Katie almost blurted out that the café still had outstanding debts and needed repairs that had to have funds raised for it.

“Um…well, he even called back this morning and asked us to bring him some more,” Katie continued getting back on topic.

The last thing Katie wanted to do was upset Dana who’d tried so hard to keep her nana’s café out of the gossip mills.

“He did?”

“Why are you surprised?”

“Because that old man counts his pennies like a model counts calories before a swim suit gig.”

“Oh, dear.” Well, that was odd. Katie couldn’t wait to tell Dana everything that Gerdie shared with her.

Something was very odd about the Renaldo family. Even though she didn’t blindly believe all gossip she heard. There was just something that ran eerily true with what Gerdie was saying today.

Very eerily.