Cake Tastings and Killers Read online

  He glanced at the sweet tea but didn’t move to touch it. “Evidence is absolute, but circumstances tell a story.

  “I didn’t kill Charlie Porter, Detective Reid.” I balled my hands into fists so he couldn’t see them tremble. “What happened in that room after I left, I can’t say, but when I walked out, he was very much alive. I don’t know what happened to make him otherwise.”

  “We’ll know pretty soon.” Reid folded his arms across his broad chest and shrugged. “When the evidence comes back, it will tell me what’s what. All the same, it’d make my job a lot easier if you stayed in Florida. Since you’re here to help your sister, that shouldn’t be a problem, right?”

  Reid left without waiting for my answer. The lead detective always did.

  Chapter Five

  Once I gathered enough control over my emotions to look calm, I went back into the living room to join everyone. Two uniformed officers still stood in the room positioned on either side of the doorframe. The others had been replaced by men and women in jumpsuits with CSU stamped on the back.

  Detective Reid motioned to Danielle. “Mrs. Loper? Could I speak with you next?”

  Danielle nodded and passed Baby Benjamin to me. She gave me a look that clearly asked “what happened?”

  I shrugged and sat down in one of the chairs against the wall with the fresco. Chair was an overly charitable term for those torture devices. The stick-straight backs were strung with a thin metal mesh bent into intricate patterns. They were pretty to look at, but none of them were comfortable. I would have preferred a cushioned seat at the card table, but that would have put me in the middle of the techs’ work.

  They gathered the dishes and glasses everyone used during the tasting. They dusted the piano, the coffee table, and the smaller sitting table even though Charlie hadn’t touched any of them. Jason had abandoned the couch he’d shared with Charlie after news of his death broke. Now a tech on his knees searched the cushion by flashlight, a plastic bag and tweezers gripped in his other hand.

  Granny offered to do another round of bar service. When nobody took her up on it, she stowed the serving tray on the lower shelf of the portable bar. She walked to the chairs against the fresco walls and plopped down into the one beside me with a heavy sigh.

  “Can I get you anything, honey?” she asked. Strictly speaking, I didn’t think any of us were allowed to leave the room, and I wasn’t interested in booze or mixers, but Granny wasn’t really asking if I was thirsty.

  Evidence is absolute, but circumstances tell a story.

  I bounced Baby Ben on my knee. “I’m fine. You just rest a while.”

  As soon as the words left my mouth, Detective Reid led Danielle back into the parlor. He came to Granny and me, bending an arm and holding it out to the octogenarian.

  “Good Evening, Mrs. Fisher.” Reid smiled. “If I could just have a few minutes of your time, then I’ll let you get to your dinner.”

  It would have been nice if Detective Reid had thrown a little of that charm my way, but flirting with the chief suspect was probably against the rules.

  A wicked grin spread across Granny’s face that was so warm it lit up her eyes and made her look two decades younger. She slid to her feet and slipped her hand into Detective Reid’s waiting arm.

  “Did my granddaughters tell you about the history of the house, Detective?” she asked. “Some of it’s older than I am, and that’s no small feat!”

  Danielle sighed and sat down in Granny’s abandoned chair. She scooped Benjamin from my arms and cuddled him close, pausing for a few seconds to rain kisses on his chubby cheeks.

  “That poor man’ll never get out of the office alive,” she whispered. “Granny’s been playing nice for hours.”

  “He can take it. How about you?”

  Danielle turned toward me, positioning her back to Caroline, Simon, and most of the officers. She undid the first three buttons on her shirt and brought Ben up to nurse.

  “I’ll feel better when they let Andy come home,” she said finally. “Detective Reid said nobody can come in or leave until they finish checking the parking lot and grounds.”

  “The clients are gonna love that.”

  “Do you really think they’re still clients after all this?” Even at a whisper, the defeat in my baby sister’s voice was hard to miss.

  It was stupid, I admit, but it hadn’t occurred to me that Caroline and Simon might drop their contract. Most event venues required non-refundable deposits to keep window shoppers and scammers away. For someone like me, that deposit money would have been impossible to walk away from. But to Caroline, it may have only meant a slightly less expensive reception dress.

  Suddenly, I was too tired to support my own body weight. I leaned back in the chair, but when the mesh creaked in protest, I rested my elbows on my knees.

  Caroline had moved onto her third cocktail. Simon sat beside her, his finger dancing over the screen of his brand-new smartphone. Neither seemed to pay much attention to the other, but their bodies were arranged so that their thighs and knees touched. If I had to give a name to the emotion in the air around them, I would have called it annoyed, not devastated or frightened. That was a good sign… right?

  I turned my gaze to the parquet floor and tried not to dwell on what questions Detective Reid had asked Danielle and Granny about me. They couldn't accidentally prove I killed Charlie Porter because I'd done no such thing.

  Detective Reid came back, but Granny wasn't with him. "Mrs. Loper, Ms. Fisher, I have to ask you to stay out of this room and the side garden until the technicians finish their work."

  “Our grandmother?” Danielle asked.

  “An officer is escorting her back to her cottage now. Another is escorting your husband up from the parking lot. Everyone else is free to go home.”

  Caroline shot to her feet, gripping the back of the sofa to steady herself. "Simon baby, you drive. I think I need a nap.”

  She would need a lot more than a nap to recover from three of Granny's gin and tonics. To Granny, breakfast was the only excuse for a weak drink and then the coffee better be doubly strong to compensate.

  Simon slid an arm around his fiancé and gently guided her into the hall. Danielle left too, the weight of the world visible on her face as she mumbled something about heating up supper for Andrew. Even with her business hanging on by a thread, Danielle Loper kept her family fed.

  At least Granny had one granddaughter she could be proud of. Meanwhile, I'd thrown a tantrum in front of customers and landed myself as the most likely suspect in the murder of the man who ruined my reputation.

  I had to fix this somehow. Maybe if I could just talk to Caroline and Simon…

  As soon as the thought occurred to me, my feet started moving toward the front door. A wave of salty ocean breeze blew strands of hair into my eyes. Through the curtain of my hair, I saw Simon and Caroline amble down the path to the parking lot. It would be so easy to catch them but what would I say? Please don’t move your wedding and destroy my sister’s business?

  Yeah, that would do. I brushed the hair out of my eyes and tried to make myself look presentable, then I ran down the porch stairs.

  “Hey! You’re one of the employees, right?” a voice called from behind me.

  I expected to see another officer when I turned around. Instead, Jason Delany leaned against the side of the house with a silver smartphone clutched in one hand. The other rested in his pocket, giving him the breezy air of a man without a care in the world.

  “Yes, I’m Laura,” I smiled and clasped my hands in front of me. If anyone could put in a good word on our behalf it was the bride's brother. "How are you doing, Mr. Delany? Today's been—”

  "A trash fire of epic magnitude, and it's just Jason." He slid his other hand into his pocket and strolled down the steps, joining me on the pavement. “Awful business, isn’t it?”

  Not wanting to mention Charlie’s name, I nodded in agreement. “Terrible. Do you think your sister will be
all right?”

  His gaze wandered to the couple, who had nearly disappeared behind the wall of bushes. "Those two could survive the end of the world. This wedding is definitely happening."

  A wave of relief washed over me. "Good. I'm glad to hear that."

  "Yeah. Well, she should be ready to make decisions in a day or two. I'll call and let you know if she wants to change the venue."

  And the relief was gone. "Oh, I didn't realize—"

  “Don’t y’all worry about the deposit either,” he said. “There’s no reason for us to fight about it. We’ve got insurance.”

  “I didn't realize wedding insurance covered the best man.”

  He shrugged, a slight frown tugging at his lips. "For Charlie, they actually might've tried, but it doesn’t matter. The company has all partners insured. Simon can afford to take the hit, and you ladies have gone above and beyond. I’ll be in touch.”

  Jason continued up the path without saying goodbye. What kind of people didn't say hello or goodnight? What kind of people took out life insurance policies on their high-ranking employees?

  Thinking back, Simon hadn't seemed hurt by the loss of his business partner. If anything, he'd seemed annoyed. Would Detective Reid discover the story behind that circumstance, or would he be too busy with me?

  I had no way of knowing. Even worse, there was no way for me to affect the answer without making myself look more guilty. The only thing I could do was sit back and wait for the evidence to prove my innocence.

  So I started walking the path home. My bath and a plate of reheated fried grouper were waiting for me.

  Chapter Six

  Things didn't seem so bad when I woke up the next morning.

  The sun was bright outside my window and the temperature low enough that my underpowered air conditioner kept the room cool enough to be comfortable. There were no showings, check-ins, or tastings on the schedule—which was a good thing because I wasn't sure Detective Reid had cleared the Paradise for visitors.

  It was a crime scene.

  All things considered, that first day wasn’t so bad. The second, third, and fourth were harder.

  When I checked in with Danielle that morning for my daily tasks, she seemed more stressed than usual. They'd decided it was best if Andrew didn't take leave from the law firm to deal with the investigation even though it meant going out-of-town for a work trip. It was the detective's job to solve the case, he insisted, and the less input a lawyer gave on the process, the better.

  Andrew seemed to have the utmost confidence in Danielle to hold up under pressure, but I worried. My sister was strong, but the situation at Paradise was… delicate.

  Caroline and Simon’s wedding was the first of the season for Paradise Bed and Breakfast. It was late in the season to be our first. Jason hadn’t called to cancel yet, but if the money attached to the decision had no meaning to them, there was no reason they would be in a rush to make it. Until Caroline made a decision, Danielle couldn’t rebook the space, but she couldn’t move forward with the logistics either.

  I’d learned the hard way over the years that once an event-based business fell behind on seasonal bookings, it was almost impossible to recover. Things might have been fine for a while if we had tourists to fall back on, but the Paradise had worse luck attracting guests than events. There were six rooms, not counting the two-bedroom apartment above the garage where my sister lived, the garden cottage where Granny and I lived, or the empty boathouse.

  The rooms had been empty for weeks. That wasn’t unusual this time of year, the dreaded lull before wedding season kicked into full swing but after the best of tourist and sport fishing season. Danielle swore Andrew was brilliant, and Granny sang his praises, but even he couldn't make that math work forever.

  If things didn't turn around soon, Andrew would have to let the place go. His family's legacy and the home of the family we shared… gone. I would have given anything to stop that, paid any price.

  With fewer than four figures in my bank account, I couldn't buy the Paradise to make everyone's trouble go away. But I could do whatever it took to lighten Danielle's load.

  That afternoon, I'd taken on the bi-monthly supply and grocery run which meant an hour and forty-minute drive to Key West, followed by the same trip back. Three hours with nothing but my own thoughts and memories, both of which had been stuck on Charlie Porter for four days. There wasn't enough classic rock on the airwaves to blast him from my brain.

  By the time I got to Key West, I needed to stretch my legs, ingest a mega dose of caffeine, and inhale some food. Preferably all at the same place. I swung by my favorite coffee shop, the Cuban Coffee Hut. Its multi-color benches and high-octane brew always cheered me up. Surely, a sandwich would do the trick.

  There wasn't much of a crowd at the Coffee Hut, just a line of three people, the staff behind the counter, and a lone man in the gift shop. Perfect! The tangy-sweet aroma of extra-strong coffee teased my nostrils, making my mouth water. I took my place at the back of the line, already feeling my mood improve. The smell of roasted coffee beans and grilled ham tended to have that effect on me.

  "Ms. Fisher? Wow, small world, huh?"

  I turned around in confusion, searching for the owner of the voice I didn't recognize. But as soon as I saw him, I remembered. Thinning brown hair, lobster-red sunburn, and a pastel polo shirt—blue today instead of green.

  “The Keys are small, Mr. Lloyd. For some people, that's the appeal.” I turned back to the counter and fixed my eyes on the black menu board.

  Maybe if I stared at it intently enough, he would take the hint and leave me alone. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something about Nicholas made me deeply uneasy.

  Nicholas shrugged. "I guess it’s appealing to tourists, but small markers are dicey for family businesses. A tarnished reputation can be murder on revenue.”

  A shiver ran down my spine, but I didn't turn to acknowledge Nicholas Lloyd. I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of knowing his words rattled me.

  When it was my turn, I stepped up to the window and gave the cashier my order. Nicholas Lloyd slid into line behind me. After I paid, I went over to the painted benches. I pulled out my cell phone and glued my eyes to the screen, radiating buzz-off vibes as strongly as I could manage.

  “Is that sandwich good?" Nicholas slid into the bench across from me. "It sounded good so I ordered the same thing.”

  I stared at him with my mouth open in pure shock. What. A. Creep.

  "Mr. Lloyd, if you don't mind, it’s kind of my day off—"

  "Great! We can have lunch and talk about some of my plans for the Paradise."

  "—and I'd like to enjoy it in peace!"

  "I heard about what happened earlier in the week, Laura." Nicholas grinned and leaned forward. "Nasty business. It'd be a shame if your client list got wind of it. Especially those out-of-towners. I mean, your sister's got to be relying on them, right?"

  His eyes never quite stood still. Instead, they combed over every inch of my face from forehead to chin and back. It was like he wanted to be sure his words had scared me as badly as he'd intended.

  The joke was on him.

  I'd been scared every second since Detective Reid pronounced me a suspect. A body only had room for so much terror.

  I swallowed and leaned forward, lowering my voice so only he could hear me. "Are you threatening my sister's business, Mr. Lloyd?"

  "Absolutely not! I'm just giving advice to pass on. It's my duty as a more seasoned entrepreneur."

  "Let me guess, you want me to advise them to sell the Paradise to you."

  He smiled and slid out of his chair, rising to his feet. "They can sell to whoever they want, but I'm about the only person who will give them what it was worth before a dead body turned up in the garden. You don't want to watch your sister sell at a loss, do you?"

  It must have been 80 degrees that day, but there wasn't a drop of sweat anywhere on Nicholas Lloyd. He was too cool, too sure of hims
elf for that.

  The cashier called my name. I sprang up from my seat, speed walked to the counter, grabbed my order, and went back to the truck as fast as my legs could carry me. Nicholas Lloyd didn't follow, but the damage had been done.

  Since I didn't have the stomach for food or coffee anymore, I drove to the grocery store to finish my errands.

  With the guest rooms empty, Andrew on business, and Baby Benjamin still a dedicated patron of Mommy's Milk Bar, there were only three mouths to feed at the Paradise. Danielle and Andrew usually ate dinner together, but when he was away, we all took turns in the kitchen. Well, Granny and Danielle took turns cooking while I stayed away from the stove for everyone's safety

  Once I was inside the grocery store, with my café con leche in hand just in case I changed my mind, I moved through the aisles as fast as I could without ramming into any other shoppers.

  The clash between Granny and Danielle's different culinary philosophies made for an odd list. Danielle loved to test out the latest recipe from her favorite food blogs. Granny, on the other hand, had a tried and true list of recipes from which she rarely deviated. Even though the entire list was in Danielle's handwriting, I could tell who wanted which item based on its novelty. Sun-dried tomatoes, garlic-stuffed olives, and dehydrated mushrooms were Danielle's ingredients.

  The last ingredient on the list, canned tuna, was all Granny.

  There's a casserole in my future. I just know it. Yuck. Tuna casserole was the one dish in my grandmother's arsenal I never learned to like. I turned into the canned fish aisle, dreading my fate, when I saw a familiar face standing near the sardines: Paige, the baker from the cake tasting.

  "Good morning," I said.

  Paige glanced in my direction and blinked in surprise. She stood up, smiling weakly as she clutched her shopping basket to her stomach. "Hi. Umm… Laura, right?