Jessica Beck - Donut Shop 17 - Old Fashioned Crooks (4 page)

“These four names
were all that I was able to come up with,” she explained.

“You managed to
list that many people?” I asked her, incredulous.

“What can I
say?
 
Emma tells me just about
everything going on in her life, and I’m a very good listener.
 
These names might not have represented
red flags to her, but I was concerned enough to note them all when she told me
about them.”

I opened the
paper and studied the names written there.
 
I was surprised to find that I knew two of them fairly well, and I had a
passing acquaintance with a third.
 
Only the last name written was unfamiliar to me, though I knew that
wouldn’t last for long.
 
Once Grace and
I started digging into the lives of our potential murderers, I was sure that we’d
soon know a great deal more about the folks on Sharon’s list.

There were three
men and one woman written down on that piece of paper: Travis Wright, Kyle
Creasy, Denny West, and Amanda Moore.
 
I knew that Travis owned a small construction company, while Kyle was a landscaper.
 
They both came into the donut shop every
now and then, separately of course.
 
I didn’t know what Amanda Moore did for a
living, but she had been in Donut Hearts only once that I could recall, while
Denny West was a complete stranger to me.

“Thanks for doing
this,” I said as I tucked the note into my front jeans pocket.

“Do you think it
will be of any help to you?” Sharon asked me as I headed for the front door to
unlock it and open the donut shop for business.
 
“I don’t really know why any of them had
a problem with Rick, just that they did.”

“It’s too soon to
tell where things stand right now, but at least you’ve given us someplace to
start.”

“Just be
careful,” Sharon said before I got to the door.

I looked outside,
but no one was waiting to get in.
 
“Why, did you just see something outside?”

“That’s not what
I meant.
 
I’m talking about the
people on the list I gave you who were associated with Rick Hastings.
 
I have a hunch that there was a good
reason that he came to a bad end.”

“I promise you
that Grace and I will both watch our steps,” I said.
 
Unlocking the door, I stepped outside
for a moment to take in the early morning air.
 
The day hadn’t had a chance to warm up yet,
and there was definitely still some of that chill in the air that we’d enjoyed
earlier.
 
I could even smell wood smoke
as I took a deep breath, a sure sign that cold weather was indeed on its way.

It was a full
fifteen minutes before anyone came into the shop, and I was wondering what was
keeping my regulars away.
 
Summer
was usually our dreariest season, but every now and then, for no obvious
reason, we had a lull in business even as cold weather approached.
 
I’d tried my best to understand it,
hoping that I could learn to explain the hiatus, but I’d never come up with a
good solution except that everybody in town suddenly decided that they’d had
their fill of donuts for the time being.
 
The sales drought usually only lasted a couple of days, but once it had
approached two weeks, and I’d started to panic at the thought of closing Donut
Hearts down forever and getting a real job.
 
I worked hard at my shop, no one could
deny it, but it was work that I loved.

Finally, our
first customer of the day showed up, but it wasn’t some random resident of
April Springs.
 

It was our mayor,
George Morris.

“Hey there, Your
Honor,” I greeted George as he walked in the door.

“Hello there,
yourself.
 
I wasn’t sure that you’d
be open, what with what happened to Emma’s new boyfriend last night.
 
The scuttlebutt around town is that
you’ll be closed until further notice until she has a chance to deal with her
grief.”

At least that
explained our lack of customers.
 
“No, we’re open today, tomorrow, and the day after, same as always.”

“Are you here all
by yourself?” the mayor asked as he looked around the shop.
 
The question might have been creepy
coming from anyone else, but I trusted George with my life, and I’d proved it
in the past on more than one occasion.

“No, Sharon’s
helping me out in back,” I said.
 
“What can I get you this morning?”

He studied the display
case intently, and then after a moment, he said, “Tell you what; why don’t you
pick.”

I grabbed one of
his favorites, a simple cake donut, and poured him a plain coffee, black.
 
“Here you go.
 
You’re a man of simple tastes; you know
that, don’t you?”

George winked at
me as he took a bite of donut, and then he followed it up with a sip of coffee.
“Suzanne, you know me too well.”

“How’s Polly
doing?” I asked him.
 
His girlfriend—and
his secretary at the town hall—had been away a great deal lately watching over
her grandchildren, and I knew that George missed her a lot, though he was
reluctant to admit it to anyone, even me.

“As a matter of
fact, she’s coming back to town this very afternoon,” George said with a smile,
and then he took another bite of his donut.

“So, is that why you’re
eating donuts while you still can?” I asked him with a grin.
 
Polly had him on a fairly strict diet,
one that didn’t include my tasty treats, but while she was away, George took it
as a sign that he could eat whatever he wanted to.

“I figure that what
she doesn’t know can’t hurt her,” he answered.
 
“Suzanne, you’re not going to tell on me,
are you?”

“You should know
better than that.
 
I consider anything
that goes on between me and my customers as privileged information,” I replied
with another smile.

“I’m not sure
that would stand up in a court of law,” George said before finishing the last
bite of donut, “but I surely appreciate the sentiment.”

“Then I hope it
never comes up in court,” I answered.
 
“How about another donut for the road?”

The mayor looked
tempted, but ultimately he shook his head in the negative.
 
“Thanks, but I’d better not.
 
I’ll pass the word along around town
that you’re open, if you’d like me to.”

“That would be
great,” I said as I collected his money and made his change.
 
“Thanks for coming by.
 
I trust that I’ll see you later, Mr.
Mayor.”

“Sometime, but maybe
not for a while,” George said.

“You don’t have
to wait for Polly to go somewhere else before you come see me, even if you
don’t order any donuts while you’re here,” I said.

“I realize that,
but we both know that it’s too tempting for me to come in here if I can’t get
anything
.”

“There’s always
our coffee.”

“True, but it
goes so much better with a donut, don’t you think?”

“My entire
business plan depends on it,” I said as I transferred his remaining coffee into
a paper cup, topped it off, and then put a lid on it before I handed it back to
him.

I wasn’t sure who
all he told, or how he got the word out, but soon enough, we were inundated
with customers again.
 
I’d have to
treat him to a free donut the next time he came in, whether Polly approved of
the gesture or not.
 

After all, George
and I had been friends a lot longer than the man had been dating his secretary.

Time flew quickly
for the next few hours, and we were closing the donut shop before I knew
it.
 
It had taken a little time for
Sharon and me to get into the swing of things working together, but by the time
we were finished for the day, we were nearly flawlessly in sync.
 

“Thanks for
coming in today,” I told her as I let her out the front door.
 
“You were a great help.”

“I don’t mind
staying and helping you tidy up here,” she said.

“I appreciate the
offer, but I’m nearly finished myself.
 
Do you know if you’ll be in tomorrow?”

“That really all depends
on Emma.
 
If she’s up to coming in,
I won’t try to keep her from it, but if not, you can count on me.
 
I’ll be here again bright and early.”

“It’s good to be
able to count on you both,” I said.

“Hey, it’s a lot
of fun as long as you don’t have to do it every day,” Sharon said, and then an
instant later, she quickly added, “Not that I don’t think it’s fun for you.”

“No worries.
 
I knew what you meant,” I said with a
smile.
 
“Sometimes it can be a
grind, but most days I love what I do.”

“Then you’re in
the right business,” she said with a laugh.

After Sharon was
gone, I finished balancing the register receipts versus the cash on hand and
was pleased to find them in complete agreement.
 
It always made me feel warm and fuzzy
inside when that happened.

I was just
finishing up the deposit slip for the day when someone started knocking on the
front door.
 
I was still a good five
minutes away from being finished, so it appeared that Grace was there early.

When I looked up,
though, it wasn’t Grace standing there trying to get my attention.

It was the police
chief, instead, and from the expression on his face, he wasn’t there to share
good news.

I couldn’t help
wondering what he wanted as I made my way to the door.
 
He knew that Grace and I were digging
into Rick Hastings’ murder, so that couldn’t be it.
 
Besides, we hadn’t even had a chance to
turn over the first leaf yet.

But clearly
something had the man out of sorts, and I had a hunch that I was about to find
out exactly what it might be.

Chapter 6

“What can I do
for you, Chief?” I asked him as I held the door open.

“Suzanne, I hate
to bother you during your regular business hours about something that’s
personal,” he started off saying, and I felt pure relief.
 
I’d been afraid that the reason for his
visit had something to do with me, but I was pretty certain now that it was
something else entirely.

“It’s no bother
at all.
 
Would you like a donut?” I
asked him half-joking, knowing that his answer would be no.
 
Before he’d started seeing my mother,
his waistline had been ample enough for two men, but since then, he’d
steadfastly refused my offerings, and had pared down accordingly.

“Sure, why
not?
 
I’ll have one with chocolate
icing and sprinkles, too,” he said a little sadly.

I nearly fell
over when I heard his request.
 
“I’m
not in the habit of discouraging my customers from ordering treats, but are you
sure that you want to do that?”

The police chief
seemed to think about it for a few seconds, and then he shook his head.
 
“You’re right.
 
I’d better not.
 
Does that tell you anything about how
upset I am?”

“If I weren’t
taking you seriously before, you’ve certainly got my attention now.
 
What exactly can I do for you?”

“It’s about your
mother,” he said with a frown.

I couldn’t keep myself
from groaning the second I heard him mention Momma.

“I know, it’s not
fair to involve you in this, but I don’t know where else to turn,” he continued.

“I
understand.
 
Talk to me,” I said as
I sat on our most comfortable couch and patted the seat beside me.

“You really don’t
mind?”

“Well, I’m
honestly not sure that I’ll be of much help, but at least I’m a good listener,”
I said.
 
The last thing I wanted to
do was to get between a man and his wife.
 
It was bad enough that the wife in this case was my very own mother, but
the fact that they were still newlyweds made it that much harder.
 
I didn’t remember any time being married
to Max, my ex, as particularly blissful, but the first year was by far the
worst of all of the time that we spent together.
 
Well, catching him cheating on me with
another woman wasn’t a picnic either, but the sentiment was true just the same.

“Thanks.
 
I appreciate that,” he said, the relief
clear in his voice.
 
“The honest
truth is that I don’t think she’s very happy about me staying on as chief of
police.
 
She doesn’t want me working
anymore.”

That didn’t sound
like my mother at all.
 
“Did she
actually say that to you?”

“No, not in so
many words, but I can tell from the way that she’s been acting, you know?”

I shook my
head.
 
“Chief, I’d love to help you,
but it’s pretty clear to me that you’re talking to the wrong woman.
 
If you want to know how my momma is
feeling about anything, and I mean anything, then you need to ask her directly
yourself.”

The chief looked
uncomfortable for a moment before he spoke again.
 
“But what if I’m afraid to?” he asked me,
his voice barely above a whisper.

The admission
caught me off-guard.
 
“Why on earth
is that?
 
She’s a reasonable
woman.
 
If you ask her what’s wrong,
I’m willing to bet that she’ll tell you.”

“Suzanne, the fact
is that I’d rather face an armed felon than ask your mother a question that I’m
not sure what the answer is.”

“Sorry, but I
can’t help you there.
 
I will say
that I can’t imagine anything that she has to say being worse than what you’re already
imagining.”

“But what if it
is?”

“Then at least you’ll
know what you’re dealing with and can go from there,” I responded.

The chief
pondered that for a few seconds, and then he nodded.
 
“You’re right.
 
That’s solid advice.
 
Thanks.”

“Don’t mention
it,” I said.
 
I wanted to ask him
what else he’d discovered about Rick Hastings’ murder, but I didn’t feel right
taking advantage of the situation.
 
After all, he’d come to me for help, and I just couldn’t bring myself to
violate that.

It turned out
that I didn’t have to, though.

On his way out
the door, the chief paused, then he looked directly back at me.
 
“You didn’t hear this from me, but
Hastings died from a knife wound to the heart.
 
It was a quick way to go, for what it’s
worth.
 
I doubt that he felt much
pain in the end.”

“So then most
likely he was murdered on the spot,” I said.
 
“If that’s true, then how could someone
not have seen it happen?”

The chief said, “I’ve
been asking myself that very same question.
 
Even as we speak, I’ve got my men
searching for any footage from Spirit Night from folks who were there.
 
Maybe someone caught something
suspicious on tape and they don’t even realize it.”

“I hope you’re
right,” I said.
 
“Thanks for
trusting me with the information.
 
I
promise that I won’t tell anyone but Grace.”

Chief Martin
shrugged.
 
“You don’t have to keep
it quiet on my account.
 
Ray Blake
somehow got ahold of the news, so everybody in town probably knows it by
now.
 
I take it you don’t read the
morning paper.”

“We were too busy
working to even look at it this morning,” I said.
 

He looked
surprised by that bit of news.
 
“We?
 
Does that mean that
Emma actually came in to work today?”

“No, but Sharon
was here substituting for her.
 
She
didn’t mention anything about it, but then again, I doubt that Ray even told
her.
 
It’s an odd relationship the
two of them have.”

“If I’ve learned
anything over the years, it’s that each marriage is different in its own way,”
the chief said.
 
“Thanks again for
the advice.”

“Good luck with
Momma,” I said, and then I let him out.

“I hope I don’t
need it, but thanks for the sentiment anyway.”

“Don’t
worry.
 
I’m sure that everything
will be just fine,” I said, trying to give him as much encouragement as I
could.

“Absolutely,” he
replied, but there was little conviction in it.

The chief was
clearly distracted by his misunderstanding with my mother, and I could dwell on
it myself if I let it, but I had a murder to investigate.
 
After all, I wasn’t a relationship
counselor.
 
Then again, I wasn’t a
homicide detective either, but at least I had a little experience tracking down
killers, and I would rather do that than butt into my mother’s brand-new
marriage.

“Are you ready to
go?” Grace asked me when she showed up at Donut Hearts five minutes after the
chief left.

“I’m just about done
here,” I said as I completed totaling the day’s receipts.
 
We’d started off slowly but we’d
finished strong, and I was glad that I’d kept the shop open after all.
 
Even after paying Emma
and
her mother, I’d made enough to keep
the wolves at bay for at least one more day, and that was pure gold as far as I
was concerned.

“Super.
 
Now, if we only knew where to start
digging,” Grace said as she took a seat near the register and watched me finish
my paperwork.

“It just so
happens that we do.
 
Sharon worked
with me this morning instead of Emma, and she had some interesting insights
about Rick Hastings and the folks he hung out with.
 
We’ve got four very solid leads to
pursue.”

“Excellent,”
Grace answered.
 
“I do wish we knew
how he died, though.
 
That could really
help our investigation.”

“I know that,” I
responded.
 
“I take it that you haven’t
read today’s paper, either.”

“I find the news
too depressing to deal with the first thing in the morning,” Grace
replied.
 
“Why, did I miss an ad, or
a coupon, or something?”

“Actually, I just
heard that Ray published the cause of death in his paper.
 
Rick Hastings was stabbed once through
the heart.
 
He died almost
instantly.”

“Then it had to
have happened in front of everyone in the park,” Grace said.
 
“Who has that kind of luck?”

“What do you
mean?
 
I wouldn’t call dying from a
stab wound all that lucky.”

“I was talking
about the killer getting away with it.
 
We both know from personal experience that the park was crowded last
night.
 
How could no one have seen
what happened?”

“The police force
is going around trying to collect videos and photographs of the event last
night.
 
Chief Martin is hoping to
catch something that the person doing the filming might have missed.”

Grace’s left
eyebrow lifted for a moment.
 
“Is
the chief actually confiding in you now?”

“He was here for
something else,” I explained.
 
“The
news he gave me about Rick Hastings was almost an afterthought.”

“That sounds
potentially juicy.
 
Why did he come
by Donut Hearts in the first place?”

I just
shrugged.
 
“It was just some family
stuff.
 
You understand why I shouldn’t
say anything more.”

“Completely,”
Grace replied with a smile, dropping it instantly.
 
I could have said something to her about
my discussion with the chief, but on impulse I’d decided to keep family
problems just that, in the family, and while it was true that Grace was my best
friend and a sister from another mother, I still didn’t feel right sharing the
chief’s concerns about my own mother with her.
 
I just felt fortunate that my best
friend understood and accepted my reticence.
 
“So,” Grace said as she rubbed her hands
together.
 
“Let’s hear about this
list of suspects.”

I pulled out the sheet
of paper Sharon had given me and handed it to her.
 
“I can do better than that.
 
I can let you see it for yourself.”

Grace took it
from me and studied the names Emma’s mother had written down before looking up
at me.
 
“I don’t know Denny West, do
you?”

“He’s the one
mystery on the list to me, as well,” I said.
 
“Should we tackle him first, or leave
him for last?”

“I say we approach
the three devils we know before we go after the one that we don’t,” Grace
said.
 
“Is that okay with you?”

“Honestly, I’m
not all that particular on where we get started.
 
Let’s stop by the bank and drop my
deposit off first, and then we can begin sleuthing.”

Grace nodded, and
then I saw her staring out the front window for a moment before she spoke again.
 
“Suzanne, can your deposit wait?”

“I suppose so,” I
said, curious about her request.
 
“Is there any reason in particular you don’t want to go by the bank
first?”

“Isn’t that
Kyle’s landscaping truck parked near The Boxcar Grill?
 
If we hurry, we might be able to catch
him before he leaves.
 
We can always
do your deposit later.”

I shoved the
cash, the credit card receipts, and the deposit slip into a bank bag and
practically shoved Grace out the front door.
 
“What are we waiting for?
 
Let’s go!”

We didn’t even
get inside the diner before Kyle Creasy met us as he trotted down the front
steps.
 
“Excuse me, ladies,” he said
as he tried to brush past us.
 
Kyle
was in his late twenties, but his receding hairline and his weatherworn face
belied that fact.
 
His khaki outfit
was stained a few places with dirt and grass, but the blemishes almost looked
as though they were parts of his uniform.

“Kyle, do you
have a second?” I asked him as I turned and followed him back down the steps.

“What’s up,
Suzanne?”
 
Before I could tell him,
he added, “I haven’t been by the donut shop lately because I’m trying to lose a
few pounds.
 
Once I get started on
your treats, I have a hard time saying no.”

“It’s not about
that,” I said.
 
“Grace and I would
love to talk to you about Rick Hastings.”

Kyle’s face
shifted into neutral mode the second he heard the man’s name.
 
“Sorry, but I can’t help you.”

“You’re not
saying that you didn’t know him, are you?” Grace asked him pointedly.

“No, and don’t
put words into my mouth,” Kyle said a little hotly.
 
“I knew Rick, but I can’t say that I’m
sorry that he’s gone.
 
He was a
troublemaker, and he toyed with people’s affections; I don’t have any patience for
that kind of person.”