One Dead Cookie (35 page)

Dougie stared into Olivia’s eyes, cleared his throat. “Yes,” he said, “someone was
trying to blackmail both of us over something that happened a long time ago.”

Olivia nodded. “The murder of Melissa Nortenson. And you were innocent.” She made
it a statement of fact.

“Yes. Trevor said he was innocent, too. He needed an alibi, and so did I, so we alibied
each other. I was never sure of his innocence until…”

“Until when? Please, Dougie. I don’t think we have much time.”

Dougie’s eyes searched the patio.

“Are you looking for Jennifer Nortenson?”

Dougie nodded. “She was the only one we could think of who would try to blackmail
us…the only one who might care enough to follow through after all these years. Trevor
refused to pay. He insisted on confronting her. That’s when I felt more sure that
he might be innocent.”

“Are you sure Trevor wasn’t intending to silence Jennifer permanently?”

“I was his muscle,” Dougie said. “Permanent silencing would have been my job. But
Trevor never so much as hinted that he wanted me to frighten Jennifer or ‘handle’
the situation in any other way. We both met with her, together and separately, and
she’s still alive and kicking.” Dougie stared out at the gardens. “Back when the police
questioned me about Melissa’s murder, they showed me a photo of her body. I think
they were trying to shock me into saying something self-incriminating. They seemed
certain she’d been pushed over that cliff, but they didn’t tell me why they thought
that. Trevor was never rough with women. Not physically, anyway. If Melissa had refused
his advances, which I sincerely doubt, he would have walked away. To Trevor it was
all a game. Women weren’t really individuals to him; they didn’t truly matter.”

“I don’t understand why Jennifer tried to blackmail the two of you in the first place.
Was she just hoping to make some money?”

Dougie shook his head. “She was absolutely convinced
that one of us had killed her sister. She was trying to figure out which of us was
guilty. She was open about that. Then when we both showed up, she thought maybe we’d
done it together. She acted confused.”

Was Jennifer acting? If Jennifer wasn’t the killer, then it had to be…Howie. Brilliant,
ruthless, unattractive. Howie was a genius, but he’d always been unsuccessful with
the opposite sex, both in high school and beyond. He’d lost his high-level job because
he broke the law, but he was skilled enough to cover his tracks.

Though small, Howie worked out, kept fit. He was probably strong enough to transport
Trevor’s body. But why would Howie arrange the body on The Gingerbread House porch?
Olivia thought she knew the answer. Jennifer moved to Chatterley Heights, using a
different last name. Maybe Howie already knew about her blackmail scheme, or maybe
he learned about it later. But he did find out that Trevor and Dougie were coming
to Chatterley Heights because, as her mother had told Maddie,
Lenora had visited every business on Town Square to spread the news.
Howie surely knew they weren’t coming to visit Lenora. That’s when he realized he’d
need to make one of them look guilty of Melissa Nortenson’s murder. Trevor was the
most believable suspect, and Howie hated him, so he chose to implicate Trevor. For
extra measure, Howie branded Trevor’s cheek with a gavel cookie cutter to point to
Jennifer as a possible suspect. It had been an extra bonus when Wade showed up at
the band shell and lost his temper with Trevor.
That’s why I felt so overwhelmed with clues. There were too many suspects.

Poor, pretty, “slow” Melissa must have seemed like a sure conquest to Howie. But she
wasn’t. Olivia could well imagine Howie’s rage, and the resulting violence, when
Melissa resisted his advances. Olivia had no idea how Howie had made contact with
Melissa’s younger sister. Maybe they’d simply run into each other. It made sense that
Howie might keep an eye on Jennifer, especially once he realized she couldn’t let
go of her sister’s unsolved murder. Maybe Jennifer reached out to Howie for help with
the anonymous post about her sister’s death. Or perhaps he found the post online and
deciphered the programming, which led him to Jennifer.

Olivia sank back in her chair. The break-ins…What about those? They happened before
Dougie and Trevor arrived in town. They might be unconnected with Trevor’s murder,
but if they were connected…Olivia glanced toward Howie, still standing on the path
between the two gardens. He was watching her. No, not her, something behind her. Olivia
twisted around in her chair. She saw Del striding in her direction. His eyes, however,
were focused on Howie.

The rolling cart bearing the rose-petal cookie cake was not far from where Howie stood.
Olivia saw him glance sideways at the cart. Maddie was watching him, too. Her eyes
narrowed with suspicion as Howie sidled up to the cart and reached toward the handle.
What Maddie could not see was the small silver object Howie drew from the pocket of
his suit coat. Olivia couldn’t tell a pistol from a revolver, but she knew a gun when
she saw one.

Olivia and Dougie sat between Del and Howie, right in harm’s way.

Olivia looked back and saw Del push a server to the ground. Del drew his weapon but
kept it at his side. As he neared Howie, Del aimed his gun. Howie grasped the handle
of the cart with Maddie’s wedding cookie cake.

“Dougie,” Olivia whispered.

“Oh jeez,” Dougie said as he saw Howie’s gun. He grabbed Olivia by the shoulder and
pulled her under the table with him. Olivia watched in horror as Maddie, who stood
behind Howie, took off at a run. But she wasn’t running away. She ran straight at
Howie. As Howie pulled the cart back to give it a good shove forward, Maddie leaped
onto his back. Her satin gown glowed in the late afternoon sunlight as she flung her
knees around his waist.

With the fearless passion of a bride defending her wedding cake, Maddie wrapped her
arms around Howie’s neck, and yelled, “Touch that cookie cake and you’re a dead man!”

Howie lost his balance. He toppled backward, choking, and fell on top of Maddie. The
gun flew from his hand and slid out of his reach. Del kicked the gun farther away.
He yanked Howie to his feet and cuffed his hands behind his back. Lucas arrived at
a gallop, pulled Maddie to her feet, and threw his arms around her.

“Wow,” Dougie said. “That’s quite a woman.”

“That she is,” Olivia said. “That she is.”

When a volley of Yorkie yaps jolted Olivia from deep sleep, her chest began to thump.
It took a few moments for her groggy brain to realize the thumping came from her own
heart. She had no idea what had caused such a reaction. Her dreams, when she remembered
them, usually contained images like cookies dancing in nonpareils or sprinkles. A
nightmare, for Olivia, might involve a volcano spewing royal icing in all the colors
of the rainbow.

Olivia lifted her head off the pillow and saw Spunky, ears perked, staring at her
bedside table. “What’s up, Spunks?” His ears twitched, but he didn’t offer an explanation.
Olivia struggled upright and examined the table, which held a lamp and her cell phone.
“Did my phone vibrate? At this hour?” She checked for recent messages and found a
missed call from the store’s kitchen phone. No message. The date read May 6, which
was…
Today? From the kitchen phone?
“Maddie cannot be baking at five thirty a.m. only a day and
a half after she subdued a murderer at her own engagement party. Can nothing slow
that woman down?”

Olivia slid out of bed and into the laceless, worn-out tennis shoes she used as slippers.
“Come on, Spunks. Maddie needs a stern lecture and possibly a sleeping pill.”

When Olivia arrived downstairs and unlocked the door of The Gingerbread House, she
found the sales floor lit as if they were opening in five minutes. Spunky sneaked
past her and trotted toward the cookbook nook. Maddie’s voice said, “Hey, Spunks,
did you unlock that door all by yourself? What a clever boy.”

Spunky answered with his happy yap.

“Little fibber,” Olivia called out. “Don’t think you can fool anyone but Maddie. I’m
the one with the opposable thumbs, and don’t you forget it.” Spunky emerged from the
cookbook nook and made straight for the front window, where he settled on his favorite
chair.

Maddie poked her head into the room, looking all too alert. “I’m sorry, Livie. My
call woke you up, didn’t it? I forgot what time it was. However, now that you’re up,
I can start the music.”

“The music?”

“Don’t worry, Livie, not the Dixie Cups. You’ll love this.” Maddie disappeared back
into the cookbook nook.

A moment later, Olivia heard a familiar strain, followed by a man’s voice singing,
“I’m getting married in the morning….” “Maddie? What is Stanley Holloway doing in
our cookbook nook?”

Maddie joined her, a puzzled expression on her freckled face. “Because I’m getting
married, Livie.”

“I hate to break it to you, but your secret is out. The engagement bash was a big
giveaway.”

“Let me explain, Livie. Lucas and I are getting married
in the morning.
This
morning. At ten a.m. The ceremony will be here, so I’m decorating the store.”

“You’re…I…”

“You need coffee,” Maddie said. “And a cookie.” With a critical up-and-down look,
she added, “And a long shower.”

“But why the change in plans?”

“Because, Livie, I’m not scared anymore. There’s nothing like a brush with death to
make lifetime commitment look less terrifying. Also, no one at the party touched our
gorgeous cookie cake, and it won’t last for a week.” With a broad grin, Maddie said,
“Besides, now I have a story to tell my kids and grandkids. Grandma once captured
a killer!”

“She did indeed.” Olivia gave her best friend since age ten a one-armed hug. “Do you
need help with the arrangements?”

“All done,” Maddie said. “Del is still your date, by the way. Too late to swap him
out for a new one. So run along and get ready. Be down here by nine forty-five, ready
to party once again. This time we’ll lock the doors to keep itinerant murderers on
the streets, where they belong.” Maddie disappeared into the cookbook nook.

Spunky hopped off his chair and joined Olivia as she left the store. During their
journey back upstairs to her apartment, Olivia hummed the tune to “Get Me to the Church
on Time.” She had no idea what the lyrics were.

*   *   *

B
y noon, Maddie and Lucas had been giddily married for over an hour, and the rose-petal
cookie cake had dwindled by nearly half. To be fair, Olivia’s brother, Jason, was
responsible for a substantial portion of the dwindling. Olivia was delighted to see
Aunt Sadie sitting next to Maddie. She hadn’t felt up to attending the big engagement
party. Though now confined to a wheelchair, Aunt Sadie looked delighted to be part
of their more intimate group.

The wedding guest list had been expanded from the original three, not counting the
wedding couple, to include Olivia’s family, Bertha, and Mr. Willard. It was Mr. Willard
who had procured a justice of the peace to perform the hastily scheduled ceremony.

Despite the early hour, Olivia’s stepfather produced several bottles of chilled champagne.
He popped the cork and began to pour. After several toasts, the guests nibbled on
rose-petal cookie cake and chatted together in one group.

“So, Del, how about clearing up a few details for us,” Olivia asked with her most
fetching smile. She stroked the back of Spunky’s neck as he snoozed on her lap.

“Like what?” Del lightly brushed the tip of her nose with his index finger.

“Like, is there any news about all those extra gavel cookie cutters that keep appearing
around town…including in our kitchen?”

“Oh my,” said Mr. Willard and Bertha at the same time. They giggled and leaned closer
to each other.

“The gavel cookie cutters all appear to be clear of incriminating evidence,” Del said.
“So you and Maddie will remain free for the time being.”

“So good to know,” Olivia said. “Were those cutters attempts to create as many suspects
as possible?”

“Howie hasn’t been terribly talkative,” Del said. “But that’s what we assume. We are
relatively certain the gavel brand on Trevor’s cheek was intended to represent ‘justice,’
thereby implicating Jennifer in his murder. About the cookie in Trevor’s mouth, the
girl in a light blue dress…We dug into Melissa Nortenson’s death and discovered she
had been wearing a light blue dress when her body was found. Given that it was
her younger sister who found her, we assume the cookie is yet another attempt to implicate
Jennifer in Trevor’s murder.”

“That’s plain evil,” Bertha said. “Poor child.”

“Well, Jennifer has had her revenge on Howie for using her to hide his responsibility
for her sister’s death. She filled in a number of the blanks. Jennifer admitted that
she’d been convinced that Trevor and/or Dougie caused Melissa’s death, either willfully
or by accident. She couldn’t let go until she knew the truth. She devised a plan,
but she needed help from someone with strong Internet skills. So she brought Howie
into the picture.”