Jessica Beck - Donut Shop 18 - Dangerous Dough (19 page)

Chapter 24

“Shannon, we need
to talk,” I said when she answered the door to our summons.
 
For once, the woman looked a little
disheveled, as though we’d roused her from a nap.
 
Good.
 
Maybe her guard would be down a little.

“What do you two
want?” she asked us with a snap in her voice.
 
“Is it that dreary business about Alex
again?”

“If you call
murder dreary business, then yes, it is,” I said.
 
My patience for this woman was nearly
exhausted.
 
After all, how bad could
her ex-husband have really been?
 
I’d
caught mine cheating on me, and yet we’d still managed to work out something
civil between us, an odd sort of friendship, even.
 
What had Alex’s great sin been that his
murder was treated so severely?

“I don’t have
much time or patience left for you two,” she said.
 
I had to wonder about her change in
attitude since the last time we’d spoken.
 
Was it because Jake wasn’t with us?
 
Did she truly only respond well to men?

“This will just
take a minute,” I said.
 
“All we
need to know is where you were at the time of the murder, and you’ll never have
to see either one of us again.”

“You actually have
the nerve to come to my home and ask me for an alibi?
 
Good-bye,” she snapped, and then she
slammed the door in our faces.

“Well, that was
productive,” I said with a frown.

“More than you
might think.
 
Did you see what I
saw?”

“I must have
missed whatever you’re talking about,” I admitted, “because I didn’t see
anything.”

“That’s
fine.
 
While you were busy
distracting Shannon, I had a chance to peek through the door and look around
her apartment.”

“What did you
see?”

“There was a
man’s coat draped over a chair in the living room.”

“How can you be
certain that it wasn’t hers?” I asked.

“The cut of it
was obviously from a man’s suit, and the wingtip shoes beside it just confirmed
it.
 
It appears that our suspect has
male company.”

“Why am I not
surprised?
 
I’m just not sure what
good that information does us at the moment,” I said.
 
“It’s not as though she was cheating on
Alex with another man.
 
They’d been
divorced for awhile, remember?”

“I know, but
whoever is in there might just be able to provide her with the alibi that she
doesn’t want to supply herself.”

“What are the
odds of that happening?” I asked.

“Suzanne, it’s not
as crazy as you might think.
 
Alex
was poisoned around lunchtime on a weekday, isn’t that right?”

“Right.”

“Well, it’s
around lunchtime on a weekday right now.
 
Maybe our mysterious stranger was with her on the day of the murder.
 
If we hang around, we might get lucky
and be able to get an alibi out of him.
 
What do you think?
 
Is it
worth a shot?”

“I don’t see why
not,” I said.
 
“Even if it doesn’t
pan out, it’s brilliant thinking on your part.”
 

“Thank you,
ma’am.
 
After all, I’ve learned from
the best.”

“There’s one
other thing, though,” I added after a moment’s thought.
 
“Maybe we should hold back before we
interview him, just to see what we can find out about the man before we
confront him.”

“Sounds good to
me, as long as we don’t lose him.”

“We won’t,” I
reassured her.
 
“Now all we have to
do is hang around and see who pops out,” I said just as Shannon’s door began to
open.

There was nowhere
Grace and I could hide to keep from being spotted.
 

It appeared that
we were going to be having this particular conversation sooner rather than
later.

“Chief Willson?”
I asked incredulously as the police chief for Granite Meadows slunk out of
Shannon’s apartment still adjusting his tie.
 
“How long have you been dating the wife
of one of your officers?” I asked.

The chief shook
his head.
 
“I can’t believe you two
are here.
 
Shannon warned me that
you might still be lurking around in the shadows.”

“We’re not the
ones sneaking around,” I said.
 
“Seriously?
 
How long have
you been fooling around with Alex’s wife?”

“She’s his ex-wife,”
he corrected me, “and I don’t have to explain anything to you.
 
As a matter of fact, we just started
seeing each other a month ago.”

“Is it every
lunchtime, or is this one special?” Grace asked with a sweet smile.

“It’s the best
time for both of us to get together, not that it’s any business of yours.
 
Listen, no one knows about this, so you
both need to keep your yaps shut, do you understand?”

“Chief, were you
here the day Alex Tyler was poisoned?” I asked him firmly, ignoring his request.

He stared hard at
me for a full ten seconds before he spoke.
 
“Are you asking me for my alibi or Shannon’s?”

“At this point,
does it matter?” I asked him.

With a prolonged
sigh, he finally replied, “We were together.”

“Can you prove it?”
Grace asked.

“We get food
delivered,” he said sullenly.
 
“Mandarin Palace can confirm that we were here.
 
Now leave me alone.”

“With pleasure,”
I said as I stepped aside to let him pass.

He got into an
unmarked patrol car and sped off, his tires squealing as he left.

“Can you believe
that?” Grace asked me.

“I’m not all that
surprised, given what we know about Shannon.
 
It appears that she has a taste for
police officers; she just traded one in for another with a higher rank.
 
I need to tell Jake about this.”

“Have him meet us
at the restaurant,” Grace said.

“To confirm their
alibi?” I asked as I pulled out my cellphone.

“That, and the
fact that I’m hungry.
 
Why don’t we
kill two birds with one stone and eat while we’re there?”

“We might as
well,” I said, the resignation heavy in my voice.
 
“We just lost our last two
suspects.
 
I don’t have a clue where
we should go from here.”

Chapter 25

“What looks good to
you?” Jake asked as he studied the menu.
 
“I don’t know about the two of you, but I feel like chicken.”
 
The snow was intensifying.
 
Outside, through the window near our
table, we could see the world fast becoming coated in white.
 
The flakes were fat and sticky, clinging
to everything they touched, and I was glad that we were in vehicles that could
handle it.
 

“How can you
think about food at a time like this?
 
Aren’t you the least bit upset that the delivery man just confirmed
Shannon’s and Chief Willson’s alibis?” I asked him.

“Suzanne, if I
let things like that interfere with my ability to eat, I’d weigh next to
nothing, and to what avail?
 
Starving myself doesn’t help anyone.”

“That’s a man after
my own heart,” Grace said, and then she looked at her own menu.
 
“I have an idea.
 
Why don’t we get three entrees and then
split them?”

“Sounds good to
me,” Jake replied.
 
“Suzanne?”

“Sure.
 
Okay.
 
Whatever you want to do.”

“Wow, that wasn’t
very enthusiastic,” Grace said.
 
“Follow your husband’s lead so we can all enjoy this meal.”

“Well, if you two
aren’t worried about our prospects, then neither am I,” I said.
 
“Chicken sounds good to me.
 
There are a dozen ways we can get
it.
 
How about you, Grace?”

“Chicken, in all
of its glorious possibilities, sounds perfect.”

Halfway through
the meal, Jake said, “George isn’t going to be too happy that we’re back to
square one.
 
He was hoping that
someone would have solved this case by now.”

“There’s always
Manfred,” I said with a smile.

“Don’t even joke
about that happening.
 
If that half-wit
ends up solving this case right out from under me, I don’t know how I’m going
to be able to look myself in the mirror.”

“Would you have
been that upset if we’d solved it ourselves?” Grace asked him as she stabbed a
piece of spicy chicken.

“No.
 
If you two were to do it, I’d stand on
the sidelines and applaud.”

“What makes us
different?” I asked him.
 
“Is it
because we’re amateurs?”

“That’s got
nothing to do with it.
 
It’s because
Manfred is an incredible idiot.
 
You
two are quite capable of investigating murder.”

Grace looked at
me and grinned.
 
“My, those are
heady words of praise, aren’t they?
 
I’m not at all sure that I’ve ever been called capable before.”

“It makes your
head swim a little, doesn’t it?” I asked with a smile of my own.

“You two know
what I mean,” Jake said as he studied what we had left.
 
“Should we get more rice?”

“No,” Grace and I
said in unison.

“Okay, I get
it.
 
Calm down, there’s no need to
shout,” Jake answered.
 
“Listen, I’m
sorry we ran into a brick wall.
 
Sometimes it happens, though.
 
I’m not happy admitting it, but some cases never get a resolution.”

“Don’t say that,”
I said.
 
“I can’t stand the idea
that someone is going to get away with murder.”

“It happens more
often than you might think,” Jake said.

“Does it ever get
any easier to swallow?” Grace asked him.

“I’ll let you
know if I ever manage to get past it,” Jake replied as he pushed his plate away.
 
“That was a good call on the rice.
 
I’m stuffed.”

“Me, too,” I said
as I pushed my plate away.
 
“Grace?”

“I’m throwing in
the towel,” she said as her napkin landed on top of her plate.
 
“Let me get this one, you two.”

“We can pay our
own way,” Jake said as he reached for his wallet.

“Maybe so, but
I’d like to treat my two dear friends to a meal out in celebration of their
recent nuptials.
 
You’re not going
to spoil it by getting all macho on me, are you?”

Jake took a deep breath
and smiled, and then he put his wallet away.
 
“Thank you for a lovely meal.”

Grace smiled
broadly at him.
 
“You know, you
could teach Stephen a few lessons on graciously accepting the inevitable.”

“He’s still
young.
 
Give him time,” Jake said,
and then his cellphone rang.
 
“Speak
of the devil and he appears.”
 
As Jake
answered his phone, he said, “We were just talking about you.
 
Sure.
 
Okay.
 
Give me forty minutes.
 
I’m in Granite Meadows.
 
Thirty is the best I can do.
 
See you there.”
 
After he put the phone away, he said, “I
hate to eat and run, but the chief needs some advice on a case.”

“What’s going
on?” Grace asked him.

Jake just
shrugged.

“I know there’s
some kind of code you all follow, so I won’t push too hard,” Grace said.
 
“All I want to know is if Stephen is all
right.”

“He’s as good as
gold,” Jake said as he stood, and then he leaned over and kissed the top of my
head.
 
“See you tonight back at the
ranch.”

“It’s a cottage,
remember?” I asked him with a smile, and then I turned to Grace.
 
“At his age, he gets forgetful
sometimes.”

“I’m not that
much older than the two of you,” he said, “so that’s what you’ve got to look
forward to in your near futures.
 
Be
careful going back.
 
It’s probably
getting slick out there, and you’re driving on one bad tire, remember?”

After he was gone
and Grace settled up with the check, I said, “I can’t believe we did all of
that work for nothing.”

“It wasn’t
nothing,” she said as she pocketed her change after leaving a hefty tip.
 
“We managed to figure out quite a few
things about this case.”

“Just not the
identity of the killer,” I said.
 
“No
big deal.”

“Suzanne, even we
can’t win them all.”

“Maybe not, but
it’s really frustrating, isn’t it?”

“It can be.
 
Now we need to get back to April
Springs,” Grace said.

“Why?
 
Do you have a date or something?”

“I did, but
evidently my boyfriend and your husband are going to be off somewhere together
fighting crime, so my evening is suddenly free.”

“You could always
just hang out with me,” I said.

“I must say, I’ve
had more enthusiastic offers in my life,” Grace remarked.

“I’m not going to
beg.
 
It’s beneath me,” I said with
a soft smile.

“Since when?” she
asked, grinning herself.

“You got me.
 
I’d love to hang out with you, if you
can make the time for me.”

“For you?
 
Always,” she said.

We started to
head back to April Springs, but long before we got there, something happened
along the way that changed everything.

Evidently what
we’d been doing hadn’t gone unnoticed by everyone.