Easy Bake Coven: Book One of the Vivienne Finch Magical Mysteries (27 page)

Working
in the schools, Mary Ellen was all about routines, Vivienne thought to herself.
It was no surprise she ordered her own life much the same. “So you obviously
saw a great deal of each other at the diner.” Vivienne dipped a small spatula
into the icing and smoothed it over the rounded cake.

“Yes,
and she was friendly enough. She even tipped me a little more than usual
whenever she’d ask about when I was going to start college. She always told me
how important it was to get a good education.”

“Mary
Ellen does take pride in her school and her former students.” Vivienne agreed.
“So what happened?”

Stephanie
slid the tray of
whoopie
pies onto a slotted holding
cart and pulled out another dozen ready for filling. “She was ahead of me in
line, so I decide to say hello and let her know that I’m working for you now.”

Vivienne
slowly rotated the cake pedestal and began to sculpt ridges for the pumpkin
décor. “She was probably on her lunch hour from the school.”

“She
kind of just nodded back. So then I tell her how sorry I was to hear of Mrs.
Clarke’s passing.”

“There’s
nothing wrong with expressing condolences. They did serve together on the
historic commission.” Vivienne replied as she evened out a patch of frosting on
the cake.

“Well,
she turns around and she looks really mad. Like, her face was kind of red and
it looked like she might start crying at any moment.” Stephanie recalled. “She
then gets this funny look on her face and says that I change jobs more often
than some people do underwear.”

Vivienne
stopped decorating the cake. “She did?”

“Oh,
it gets better.” Stephanie nodded. “She then told me that Mona Clarke and
Victoria Clemens were both a bunch of hypocrites who only served their own
interests.”

“That’s
odd.” Vivienne wondered. “They didn’t seem mad at each other during the
historic commission meeting.”

“Well,
she certainly had a gripe about them today.” Stephanie finished. “I thought she
was going to bite my head off before she paid for her groceries and stormed
off.”

“The
more I hear about this historic commission, the less I find I know about how it
really worked.” Vivienne confessed. “Perhaps it’s better to not know these
things?”

“Just
don’t bring up the subject around Mary Ellen anytime soon.” Stephanie sighed.
“I know I sure won’t.”
  

By
six in the evening, Vivienne and Stephanie had done the impossible. Every
bakery case, every pedestal, every tray and shelf was lined with a selection of
delectable baked goods to tempt the most finicky of customers.

“It
looks stunning.” Stephanie remarked as she and Vivienne stood at the front door
looking in.

“It
wouldn’t have happened without you.” Vivienne gave her helper a hug and wiped
her brow. “We’re all set.”

“Do
you want me to come in early?” Stephanie asked.

“Would
you mind coming in at seven?”

“I’ll
be here.” Stephanie untied the strings from her apron. “Finally, we have something
good for the news to report.”

“No
media or big hoopla tomorrow morning here. We’re keeping things nice and simple
and quiet for the first day.” Vivienne agreed. “We’re overdue for that.” She
untied her apron. “Let’s clean up the kitchen and go home.”

Having
the evening free, Vivienne stopped on her way home at the
Monarch Grocery
to pick up some wet cat food for Tom Cat. She had
heard that the moisture helped to keep the animals hydrated and their kidneys
healthy. Having lacked a proper diet for some time, she wanted to make sure her
new companion would be with her for many years.

Pushing
her cart along the pet aisle, she admired a little display of cat toys. There
were plastic busy balls, catnip filled mice, and even strips of cardboard that
were supposed to attract cats for sharpening their claws. She decided on the
cardboard, hoping Tom hadn’t made a mess of her sofa arms during her absence.

Moving
down the aisle toward the canned food, she was surprised to find Cassandra
Pembroke adding several cans of cat food to her cart. She had never had much
contact with her in town, but the chance to speak to another Historic
Commission member was something she wasn’t about to throw away. She pretended
to reach for a can of food and accidently bump her. “Oh, I’m sorry…”

Cassandra
turned around. “It’s all right.”

“Cassandra,
how are you?” Vivienne feigned surprise.

Cassandra
took a moment to respond. Her eyes widened as recognition occurred. “Vivienne,
it’s nice to see you too. I’m fine.”

“Much
the same on my end.” Vivienne smiled. “I’m just picking up some food for my new
cat.” She reached for some cans, not caring what brand they were.

Cassandra
took notice of what she was grabbing and put her hands out. “Oh, no. You don’t
want that brand.”

Vivienne
retracted her arm. “Why not?”

Cassandra
shook her head. “It’s crammed with fillers and ash. It’s incredibly unhealthy
for your animals.”

Vivienne
was sure that it had to be healthier than eating garbage out of dumpsters like
Tom Cat had been doing, but she smiled politely and cocked her head to the
side. “I had no idea. What do you recommend?”

Cassandra
scanned the shelves and reached for a line of golden colored cans at eye level.
“This one is all natural. It’s the only kind I ever feed my own babies.”

Vivienne
eyed the price on the shelf and gulped. Almost two dollars a can, she couldn’t
believe it. “Well, a Mother always wants nothing but the best for her babies.”

Cassandra
nodded. “I wish my children were as easy to please.”

“How
are they?” Vivienne grabbed a few cans of the expensive food, vowing to ditch
them in another aisle after the conversation. She knew Cassandra had four
children and none lived at home.

She
counted each of them off on the fingers of her right hand. “Colton is married
and living in the Hamptons. Caroline is a violinist with the
New York Philharmonic
. Christopher is
working at a brokerage firm on Wall Street, and Caleb is in his second year of
law school at
William and Mary
.”

“My
goodness, they sure are keeping busy.” Vivienne, like many in the town, had
often seen Cassandra’s children frolicking on the lake with speed boats and jet
skis during the warm summer months. “But I’d expect nothing less from your
children.”

“I
hardly ever see them anymore.” Cassandra spoke softly. “They’ve come to resent
my choice to leave Manhattan behind.”

“It’s
not like you moved across the country.” Vivienne reassured her.

“Well,
Peter still lives in New York, so they just gravitate to him more.” She sighed.
“Their father is the one who opened most of the doors, so I can’t really blame
them for being closer to him.”

“Speaking
of New York, I had the pleasure of meeting one of Mona’s friends from there.”
Vivienne eased the change of conversation quite expertly. “Do you know Samantha
Charles”

“I
know of her.” Cassandra clarified. “She was in the group that came with Fiona
Meadows, wasn’t she?”

“Yes.
She’s such a sweet young woman.” Vivienne spoke.

“Hard
to believe she’s associated with Fiona Meadows.” Cassandra sniffed.

“Why
do you say that?”

Cassandra
leaned closer to Vivienne. “You know that online magazine that was brought up
at the historic meeting,
A Byte of the
Finger Lakes
?”

“Yes.”
Vivienne nodded.

“It’s
run by a publishing house in New York that’s headed by none other than Fiona
Meadows.” Cassandra folded her arms across her chest. “Can you believe the
nerve of her to show up for the memorial after running a scathing piece like
that?”

“Mona
said she was misquoted in the article.” Vivienne recalled from the night of the
meeting. “Do you think Fiona changed it on purpose?”

“I
don’t know.” Cassandra rolled her eyes. “But I’m telling you something isn’t
right about this whole murder business. Suzette Powell and Mona had their share
of disagreements over the years, but they never came to blows.”

Vivienne
thought for a moment. “But she was having an affair with Richard under Mona’s
nose.”

Cassandra
shook her head. “Peter had a mistress in New York but I never told the children
about it. I’ll admit some days I did fantasize about pushing that little hussy
right off that penthouse balcony, but it never went beyond that.”

“I’m
sorry.” Vivienne put her hand on Cassandra’s arm.

“It’s
ancient history now.” Cassandra patted her hand. “What on Earth would push
Suzette to the breaking point to lose control like that?”

“We
may never know.” Vivienne reasoned.

“So
you think she did it?”

“I
know things look that way, but I can’t say that I’m entirely convinced.”
Vivienne clarified. “Now this business with Fiona Meadows and the magazine has
me wondering even more.”

“My
phone has been ringing off the hook.” Cassandra went on to explain. “First it
was all about Victoria taking over as Mayor and then Mary Ellen kept me on the
phone for over an hour going on and on about her problem.”

“Has
she been getting angry calls about the cost of the new school uniforms again?”
Vivienne opened the door for Cassandra to spill the goods.

Cassandra
looked around to make sure no one was within ear shot and she waved her closer.
“You didn’t hear this from me, but she told me that Richard had earmarked some
grant money for new playground equipment that Mary Ellen was going to use as
damage control for the uniform fiasco last month. Well, out of the blue,
Richard called up Mary Ellen and told her that he’s had a change of heart and
the money was going be used to fund a small park memorial in honor of Mona.”

“No
wonder she was mad.” Vivienne remarked.

“That’s
not all.” Cassandra continued. “Mary Ellen had gone out of her way to convince
her associates on the school board to support Richard’s campaign last fall and he
won in a landslide thanks to the Educator’s Union supporting him. So naturally,
she felt stabbed in the back and rightly so if you ask me.”

“Whatever
happened to our sleepy little town?” Vivienne asked.

“This
has been going on for years.” Cassandra remarked. “Small towns look peaceful
and quiet. The sad truth is we are just better at cloaking deception from
outsiders.”

Vivienne
tapped her foot against her shopping cart. “I’m not at all convinced that
Suzette Powell killed Mona. People need to know about all these other things.”

“What
can we do?” Cassandra asked. “We’re not exactly in a position to change
anything that’s happened.”

“I
think I’m going to see if I can talk to Suzette.” Vivienne replied.

“She’s
locked up in jail. I doubt they’ll let you see her, much less talk to her.”

“Well,
I have a connection that might be able to make that happen.” Vivienne replied.
“What can it hurt?”

“That’s
insane.” Joshua’s voice raised a notch. “No. Absolutely not.”

“What
about Fiona Meadows and this magazine business?” Vivienne pressed on. “Suzette
might have some information about that and it could change things.”

“Why
are you so concerned about Suzette Powell now?” Joshua asked.

“Because
the more we find out about this situation, the more things start to fall
apart.” Vivienne reached out and stroked the back of his neck with her hand.
“Mary Ellen Bryce has been stabbed in the back by Richard Clarke, who it turns
out was having an affair with Suzette Powell. Victoria Clemens is now Mayor,
thanks to his confession on the news. There’s so much more to the story.”

“Vivienne,
this could be dangerous. You’ve already been attacked once this week.”

She
leaned back against the loveseat in Joshua’s apartment. “That probably had more
to do with the
grimoire
than Mona’s murder.”

“You
don’t know that.” Joshua reasoned. “I think you should leave the investigation
to the professionals.”

“But
they’re on the wrong track.” Vivienne pleaded. “They’re focusing everything on
Suzette and maybe that’s exactly what the real killer wants.”

Joshua
took a sip of the lemon-lime soda that was in his hand. “Even if I could get
you in there, Sheriff
Rigsbee
would
rake
me over the coals if he found out.”

“What
if he insists that I go talk to her tonight?” Vivienne battered her eyes.

“How
do you propose we make that happen?” He asked.

She
reached into her purse and pulled out the little purple bag of powder that she
had used on Nora. “With a little help from some good old-fashioned magic.”

Joshua’s
eyes widened. “You’re going to drug him?”