Jessica Beck - Donut Shop 18 - Dangerous Dough (17 page)

Chapter 20

When I woke up
the next morning, I glanced out the window and saw that it was snowing again,
but this time it was coming down more heavily than it had the night before.
 
It was nothing that my Jeep couldn’t
handle, though.
 
Still, if it kept
up, we might be in for a bit of a winter wonderland, at least what passed for
that in our part of the South.
 
Jake’s truck had four-wheel drive, so I knew it wouldn’t be an issue for
him getting around, either.
 

It was fun
driving from the cottage to the donut shop, and instead of going straight in to
work, I decided to tour April Springs a little in the darkness.
 
The snowfall was reflected in the beams
of my headlights as well as in the auras of the street lamps, giving the entire
town a snow-globe feel to it as the barrage of flakes swirled ever
downward.
 
I drove around for about
ten minutes instead of my normal forty-five–second commute, and then I decided
to park closer to the entrance than I normally did.
 
If the snow intensified, I didn’t want
to have to trudge through it to get to my Jeep.

Once I was safely
inside Donut Hearts, the snowfall was lost on me as I started going about my
day.
 
Flipping switches as I made my
way to the back door, I turned on the coffeepot, the lights in the kitchen, and
then the fryer, in that order.
 
It
was already toasty inside the donut shop, and I was glad to swap my coat out for
my apron.
 
Emma had asked to come in
a little late again, a request that I’d been happy to grant.
 

Before long, I
had my hands in the batter of the coming day’s cake donuts, wondering what I
could do to be different and make my typical offerings stand out.
 
Honestly, sometimes I felt as though I’d
run out of ideas for making new donuts altogether.
 
Over the years I’d made so many different
varieties—and even more variations of old standbys—that it could be vexing
trying to come up with something new enough to lure my customers for a sample.
 
Like anything else that required
creativity, there were days when ideas flowed like water, but today, it was
more like molasses.
 
If I couldn’t
come up with anything new in flavoring, maybe I could decorate a plain cake
donut a little differently.

Then it came to
me.
 
In honor of the snow falling
outside, I’d make a snowflake donut.
 
Drowning the first dozen plain cake donuts out of the fryer with glaze,
I put an avalanche of shaved coconut on top.
 
I’d never been a big fan of coconut
myself, but it had its devotees, so I tried to keep something in the rotation
for the folks who adored it.
 
I had
some glistening sprinkles that were new, clear sugar crystals that seemed to twinkle
when they caught the light.
 
Almost
as an afterthought, I added a couple of shakes from the container to each top,
and when I was finished, they were quite pretty, even if I wasn’t about to taste
one myself.
 
It was a shame that I
couldn’t make them move, though, to take advantage of the special properties of
my new topping.
 
Truth be told, the
sugar sprinkles were not nearly as attractive when they weren’t moving.
 
Then I remembered a revolving cake stand
I’d gotten once on a whim.
 
It would
be perfect!
 
I pulled the stand out
of storage and plugged it in up front, right on top of the case near the cash
register.
 
Stacking the donuts on a
clean white sheet of baking paper, I flipped the switch and watched the donuts
dance.
 

I had just
finished my homemade sign when I heard Emma at the front door, and I was
curious to see what she thought.

“Snowflake
donuts?” she asked in delight.
 
“They’re
pretty, but why did you make them today?”

“Did it stop snowing
already?” I asked as I looked outside.
 
I’d been so preoccupied getting the display right that I hadn’t noticed
anything that had been going on outside.

“There’s a
dusting on the ground, but nothing new is coming down.
 
It will probably all be gone again by
the time we open.”

“I don’t care,” I
said with a grin.
 
“I like the way
they look, don’t you?”

“They’re actually
quite lovely turning like that,” Emma said as she took her coat off.
 
“Who cares if we sell any?”

“Well, actually,
I do,” I admitted.
 
“At least I know
that I can count on selling at least two if Max comes in.
 
That man loves shaved coconut.
 
Maybe that’s why I’ve never cared for it
myself.”

Emma
laughed.
 
“You could always call him
and tell him we have them in stock today.”

“No thank you.
 
I haven’t been in any hurry to see my ex-husband
now that he’s been completely replaced in my life.”

“I’m sure that
he’d be happy for you.
 
I suspect
that he and Emily will be following suit any day now.”

“Why, has she
said something to you?” I asked.
 
While I was close with Emily Hargraves,
my assistant was even closer.

“Not
directly.
 
It’s just a feeling I get
when I’m around them these days.”

“Well, I wish
them both the best if they ever do decide to tie the knot,” I answered, and I
was happy to say that I meant it.
 
“I have another fifteen minutes to finish up the cake donuts, and then
you can dive into the dishes.”

“Sounds good,”
Emma said.
 
“Thanks for letting me
sleep in again.”

“Hey, you can
change your hours permanently if you’d like,” I said.

“If I did that, I
have a hunch that I’d have to take a pay cut as well,” Emma said, her smile
returning.

“Yes, there’s
always that.
 
I’d pay you the same
per hour, but there’s no denying that you’d feel it in your check every two
weeks.”

“Then we’ll keep
things just the way they are now,” she said.
 
“Now get busy.
 
I can’t wait to get started on those
pots and pans.”

“I will, but in
the meantime, you can get us ready out here,” I said as I walked back into the
kitchen to finish up the first part of my day.

Once I had all of
our other, more standard cake varieties finished, I came out and saw that Emma
had embellished my sign with snowflakes and swirls of her own creation.

“Do you
mind?
 
I just felt as though it
needed something,” she said when she saw me noticing her work.

“I think it looks
great,” I said.
 
“The dishes await
you.”

“Then I’ll get
right on them,” she replied.

As Emma started
washing, I began to work on the yeast donut dough.
 
Soon enough it was ready for its first
proof, Emma had done the first round of dishes, and we were ready for our
normal break outside.

After we swapped
out our aprons for jackets, we each got a cup of coffee and left the shop.
 
I was a little disappointed to see that
the snow had indeed stopped altogether.

“That’s too bad,”
I said as I brushed the slight evidence of accumulation from one of the chairs
we kept out front.

“You’re not sad
because we can’t feature your new donuts, are you?” Emma asked me as we both
sat on the cold chairs.

“It’s not that,”
I said.
 
“I was just hoping that it
would at least cover the ground before it stopped.”
 

“Suzanne, do you
really love snow that much?”

“You know I do,
but I had my own reasons this time.
 
I wanted to take a walk with Jake through the park while it was snowing.
 
It’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever
seen.”

“Even prettier
than Paris?” she asked, teasing me a little.

“Yes, even
prettier, at least in my mind,” I said.
 
“Emma, have I been talking about my honeymoon too much?”

“Honestly, if you
hadn’t, I’d be worried about your new marriage,” she answered.
 
“It really does sound as though it was a
lovely trip.”

“I’m sure you’ll
get there someday yourself.”

“Not if I have to
wait first to find my own version of Jake,” she said.

“What’s going on
with you?
 
Are you in a dating
slump, Emma?”

“Well, I hate to
admit it, but it’s been almost three weeks since someone new asked me out, so
yes, I guess I am,” she said solemnly.

“I’d feel sorry
for you, I really would, but I had quite a few longer dry spells than that when
I was single.
 
You’ve got plenty of
time to find someone.”

“Oh, I’m honestly
not in that big of a hurry.
 
Hunting
for a new beau is the fun part sometimes.”

“Really?
 
I always found it aggravating,” I said.

“What can I
say?
 
I’m a gal that enjoys the
chase.”
 
She jammed her hands deeper
into her jacket and shivered a little.

“If you’re cold,
we can go back inside early,” I offered.

“Not on your
life.
 
This is my favorite time of
night, before anyone else is out besides us.”

“I feel the exact
same way,” I said, echoing her sentiment.
 
“That must mean that we’re both in the right line of work.”

“I hope so,
because I’m not interested in a change at the moment,” she said.

The timer I
always carried out with me went off, and I stood.
 
“Time to make the donuts.”

“It never gets
old,” she said, and we went back inside.

“Thank goodness
for that.”

Soon enough, the
outside chill was just a memory.
 
I
had my hands full of warm dough, and Emma had hers submerged in hot water.
 

For all either
one of us could tell, it was summer outside.

But I knew
better.
 
I just hoped the snow came
back to our little town, and soon.

It was a case of
being careful what I wished for; I just didn’t know it at the time.

Chapter 21

“What brings you
to April Springs this early in the morning?” I asked the first customer to come
through my door, a newly familiar face but a first-time customer, at least as
far as I knew.
 
“Were you in the
mood for donuts all of a sudden?”

Deke Marsh
scowled a little at my display cases.
 
“Not particularly.
 
What is
that, coconut?” he asked as he pointed to my new snowflake donut special.

“As a matter of
fact, it is,” I said.

Deke looked at
the one on top, shrugged, and then said, “Why not?
 
I’ll take one of those, and a cup of
coffee, too.”

Though he’d
ordered something, the man was clearly there for more than my food.
 
I just wasn’t sure what that might be
just yet.
 
Still, a sale was a sale,
so I rang him up, filled his order, and delivered it, along with his
change.
 
Deke took a bite of his
donut, frowned a moment, and then he shrugged again.
 
Was that the only way the man
communicated?

“Well, what did
you think?” I asked him curiously.

“Not too bad,” he
allowed.
 
“They could use more
coconut, though.”

The only way I
could have gotten more on top was by gluing it into place.
 
“I’ll remember that next time.
 
So, if my donuts weren’t what lured you
here, what brings you by Donut Hearts this hour of the day?”

“Actually, it’s
late for me.
 
The truth is, I
haven’t been to bed yet.”

“Do I even want
to know what you’ve been out doing?” I asked him.

“You might want
to, but you’re not going to find out, at least not from me.
 
Listen, you need to pull your private
pit bull off my case, okay?”

“Are you talking
about Grace?
 
I know she can be
pushy at times, but she means well.”
 
I knew that he’d been talking about Jake, but there was no reason that I
couldn’t have a little fun with him, even if he was a crook as well as a murder
suspect.

“We both know
that I’m talking about your husband.
 
I don’t like him coming around asking me questions.”

“Then answer
them, and Jake will leave you alone.”

“Let me ask you
something?
 
Does he really think I
whacked Tyler?” Deke asked.

“You certainly
had motive, just about anyone who didn’t like him had the means, and the
opportunity was there for the asking.”

“Don’t you sound
like Nancy Drew?” he asked sarcastically.

It clearly hadn’t
been meant to be taken as a compliment, but that was how I was going to take
it.
 
“Thanks.
 
She’s wonderful, isn’t she?
 
Which book of hers is your favorite?”

“I’ve never read
any of them,” Deke said after snorting in disgust.

“You really should.
 
They are excellent.”

Deke shook his
head as though this conversation was leaving him more and more puzzled.
 
“What does he want from me?
 
I’ve got the feeling that he won’t
believe me if I just tell him that I didn’t do it.”

“An alibi would
probably help,” I suggested.

“For when exactly,
two or three days?
 
Who has an alibi
that will cover that kind of time frame?”

“Actually,
they’ve narrowed it down quite a bit further than that.”
 
I wasn’t at all certain that I was
supposed to be sharing that information with one of our prime suspects, but how
else could I get him to talk to me?

“I’m listening,”
Deke said.

I told him the time
frame Jake had relayed to me, and to my surprise, he started laughing.
 
“Did I just say something funny?”

“Hilarious,” Deke
said.
 
“I couldn’t have killed Alex
Tyler, and even better, I can prove it.”

“How can you
manage to do that?”

“I was being
hassled by his buddy during the entire time,” Deke said.
 
“If you don’t believe me, just ask Craig
Durant.
 
He was busting my chops in
Granite Meadows the entire time, so there’s no way I could have poisoned Alex
Tyler all the way over here.
 
I
gotta tell you, that’s a real relief.”

“Did Jake really
bother you that much?
 
How about Grace
and me?”

“You two I could
deal with,” he explained.
 
“It was
your hubby I was worried about coming around and cramping my style.
 
Let him know, would you?”

“You bet,” I
said.
 
“He’s going to want to
confirm that, you know.”

“Let him,” Deke
said.
 
Then he wolfed down the rest
of his donut, wiped his hands on his pants, and pointed back to my
display.
 
“I’ll take three more of
those for the road.”

“Do you really
like them that much?” I asked.

“What can I
say?
 
They taste better than they
look.”

If that were
true, they must have been delicious.

I took Deke
Marsh’s money after I delivered his order, and the instant he was out the door,
I grabbed my cellphone and called Jake.

After seven
rings, I was about to hang up when he answered.
 
“This is Bishop.”

“I didn’t wake
you, did I?”

“No, I was in the
shower.
 
What’s up?”

“I just got
alibis for Deke Marsh and Craig Durant,” I said.

I could hear the storm
brewing in his voice as he spoke.
 
“Suzanne, did you shut the donut shop down, leave April Springs, and
track down two of our suspects without me?
 
Please tell me that you at least took Grace with you.”

“I didn’t have
to.
 
Deke Marsh waltzed into the
donut shop on his own.
 
I guess I
have you to thank for it, actually.”

“How’s that?”

“Well, it turns
out that he didn’t mind the questions Grace and I asked him, but when you got
involved, he decided to end your interest in him quickly if he could manage
it.”

“What’s that got
to do with Durant?” Jake asked.

“It seems that
the two of them were together in Granite Meadows the entire time.
 
Evidently Durant was hassling him about
something,” I said.
 
In a gentler
voice, I added, “I’m sorry, but I had to tell him the time frame of the
murder.
 
It was the only way that I
could get confirmation from him that he was somewhere else at the time.”

“That’s fine,”
Jake said.
 
“I knew that it would
get out sooner or later, so at least this was for a good cause.”

“What are you
going to do now?” I asked him as I wiped the counter with a dishtowel I kept up
front for just that purpose.
 
Coconut flakes were everywhere, and I had a feeling that I was fighting
a losing battle trying to contain them, especially since the coated donuts were
making their rounds on the carousel display.

“I’m going to get
confirmation that it’s true, and then I’m going to strike two names off my
list.
 
Good work, Suzanne.”

“Like I said, I
didn’t do anything.
 
He walked into
Donut Hearts of his own accord first thing this morning.”

“Maybe so, but
you saw an opportunity, analyzed the situation, and then you acted.
 
That’s pretty much all I’ve ever done in
my entire career.”

“Don’t give me
too much credit,” I said.

“Isn’t it okay
for me to be proud of my wife?” he asked gently.

“It’s more than
okay, it’s encouraged.
 
Let me know
if you find out that Deke was lying to me.”

“I don’t think he
did.
 
It would be too easy to prove,
one way or the other.
 
We’re getting
closer.
 
I can feel it in my gut.”

“Me, too.
 
Are you still coming by after the shop
closes this morning?”

“I’ll be
there.
 
Is Grace free to go with you
again?” he asked.

“She’s making the
time.
 
So, we’ll all meet up here a
little after eleven and head off to Granite Meadows.”

“In separate
vehicles, though,” Jake said.
 
“I
can’t have you ferrying me around in your Jeep all the time, and the three of
us can’t ride all that comfortably in my truck.”

“You could always
upgrade to something nicer, you know,” I said.

“Why would I want
to do that when it’s perfect for me now?
 
I’ll see you later.”

“I’ll be here
selling donuts and solving crime, because hey, that’s what I do,” I said with a
laugh.

“That’s the woman
I fell in love with,” Jake replied before hanging up.

I wished that it
really were that easy.
 
I wasn’t
kidding myself.
 
Deke had come
forward because of the pressure that Jake’s presence had put on him, not
because of anything that Grace and I had done.
 
There were some real advantages having a
cop—one of any kind—on our side, and I wasn’t silly enough to take the credit
myself.

Still, we’d
eliminated two suspects at once, and that was never a bad thing.

The only problem
was that it still left us with three more: Maisie and Shannon for us and the
Granite Meadows chief of police for Jake.

Frankly, at that
point, I didn’t have the foggiest notion which one the killer might be.