Cupcakes & Corpses Read online

  I literally tripped over one and was accused of murdering him. Then Stumpy found a dead mobster in the park, and Marshall and Marcus, never to be outdone, found a murder victim at the 4th of July Festival.

  And somehow, I always end up personally involved in the investigations, much to Detective Bailey’s chagrin. But I’m done with all of that. I’ve officially hung up my investigator’s hat, and I’m sticking with my vegetarian breakfast cafe apron. Thank you very much. Business is great, and now that ski season is almost upon us, we’ll be busier than ever.

  During a mid-morning lull, Damien approaches me, looking both excited and nervous. For a moment, I’m terrified he’s going to quit because some swanky, high-paying restaurant in Denver offered him a job or something. “Hey boss, I have something to tell you.”

  I gulp. “Okay.”

  “Tom and I are applying to become foster parents.””Seriously?” I squeal. “That’s amazing! When? Where? How? Oh, my gosh! Can you tell I’m excited?” I’m practically jumping up and down. I’m so happy for them.

  “They already have a child in mind for us, but we still have to complete all the paperwork and get approved. I was hoping you’d write a letter of recommendation for us.”

  “Of course I will! And who’s the child? There’s so much to do! I’ll start writing the letter now!” I exclaim as I head for my office.

  “Okay, calm down, Char, not everything has to be done right this second,” Damien laughs at me, but I can’t tell he’s happy I’m so thrilled for him. “She’s three years old, and her name is Poppy. Her mom came here from Puerto Rico with her when she was only about a month old. Tragically, a drunk driver killed her mom a couple of weeks ago and they haven’t been able to locate any relatives for her yet.”

  “Oh, that’s heartbreaking. And if anybody knows what she’s going through, it’s me.” I was quite a bit older than Poppy when my parents were killed. Even so, I know what it’s like to lose someone. Also, my parents were con-artists who were murdered by another criminal in a con job that went awry, but I can still empathize with this poor girl.

  “And that’s why you’ll make the best auntie,” Damien tells me.

  “I just thought of something. What if they don’t find any of her relatives? What happens then?” Thankfully, I had my grandma when I was orphaned. I can’t imagine not having anyone, though.

  “Wellll,” Damien says, tracing a floor tile with his toe and blushing. “It’s possible we could adopt her.”

  I put my hand over my mouth, trying not to cry. “Oh, Damien, that would be the best thing ever.”

  “Don’t get your hopes up!” he warns me. “Ideally, they’ll want her reunited with any family she might have, but if that can’t happen for some reason, Tom and I are open to adopting her. But let’s just take this one step at a time, okay?”

  Our low-key celebration is interrupted when Aranya shows up for her shift. “Please don’t say anything to anybody else yet. I don’t want to tell a bunch of people until we know something for sure,” Damien whispers.

  I give him a thumbs up and nod my head in agreement.

  “Hey, guys! What’s up?” Aranya asks, hanging her coat and backpack on the coat rack.

  “I was just telling Damien that I think we need another one of Chloe’s cupcakes.”

  “Ohhhhh wow, those things are so good!” Aranya exclaims.

  “I could absolutely go for a cupcake,” Damien agrees.

  I grab my own coat off the coat rack. “It’s settled then. Three cupcakes coming up.”

  “Get some parsley while you’re out!” Marshall calls out from my office, where he was supposedly napping.

  I roll my eyes at my friends. I can’t walk out the door ever without the rabbits requesting some kind of snack. Italian parsley is their favorite, however, so that’s their most frequent request. “They’re demanding parsley,” I explain.

  “I brought you something better,” Aranya says, digging in her backpack.

  That brings the rabbits scurrying out of the office as they watch her pull out two dandelions.

  “Awwwww yeah!” Marcus shouts as he leaps into the air and binkys. In case you’re wondering what a rabbit binky looks like, it’s when they’re just so happy they leap into the air and wiggle about. It’s quite comical and endearing. But they don’t need to act like they’re never fed.

  “Where did you get dandelions this time of year?” I ask in surprise.

  “We’re growing them at the school to use in recipes,” Aranya explains. “And I know how much these two love them.”

  She leans over as they each rip one out of her hands. They usually both grab the same one and fight over it, but they must have forgotten that ritual in all the excitement over fresh dandelions in November.

  “I won’t be gone long,” I tell them as I head out into the crisp late autumn air.

  Chapter 3

  The first snow was about two weeks ago, and we already have about a foot of it on the ground. I relish the crunch of snow beneath my feet as I walk along Main Street, taking in all the Halloween lights the shopkeepers still have out. Pretty soon, the Christmas decorations will replace the orange, black, and purple lights.

  Crested Peaks at Christmas always looks like one of those towns you see in a Hallmark Christmas movie, except our snow is real. I notice that snow already coats the mountain peaks and as I approach Chloe’s Cupcakes Truck, it’s snowing again but lightly.

  I stick out my tongue to see if I can catch any, and then I laugh at myself. I can’t believe Damien and Tom might adopt a little girl. It will be hard to keep their secret because I’m so happy and excited for them. I hope he at least lets me tell Drew and Miranda. Otherwise, I don’t know how I can keep my mouth shut for long.

  There’s a short line at Chloe’s truck. Anywhere else, customers would be scared off by the snow but not in Crested Peaks. We’re so used to it here that we just carry on the same as if it were 75 degrees and summer. And because of the ski resort, the more snow, the better.

  I line up behind the others, but Chloe sees me and waves. “Hi, Charlotte!”

  “Hey there, Chloe!”

  “Afternoon snack for everybody?”

  “You know it!” Today she’s serving hot chocolate, along with the cupcakes. My mouth waters as I watch one of the customers walk away from the truck, clutching the warm cup in their mittens while steam trails from the top when it hits the cold air. I guess I’ll make it three cups of hot chocolate in addition to the cupcakes.

  I scan the menu on the side of the truck, torn over which cupcake I’ll pick today. The red velvet cupcakes from last night were exceptional as always, but now I think the caramel nut fudge sounds good. It’s so hard to decide. I may have to get more than one flavor.

  I’m so engrossed in daydreaming about delicious cupcakes that I almost miss the fact Drew and an officer have pulled up in a squad car behind Chloe’s truck. When I finally see him, I wave at him, but he’s so busy talking to the officer with him he doesn’t see me.

  I’m shocked when they walk around the back of the truck and knock on the door. What on earth? Now I’m worried. Is Chloe in some kind of danger? Is something wrong with the truck? Why are the police knocking on her door?

  Chloe looks just as confused as I am when she hears the knock. She holds a finger up to the customer she’s waiting on, and he nods as she moves to open the door. When she does, Drew asks her to step outside. I can already tell this isn’t a friendly visit. He’s acting like it’s an official police matter instead. By now, people are gathering on the sidewalk and staring.

  “Chloe Miller, you’re under arrest for the murder of Morley Haynes,” Drew announces.

  “What?” I exclaim. He’s kidding, right?

  Drew finally turns and sees me standing there, my mouth hanging open in shock.

  “Charlotte, what are you doing here?” he groans. He’s so tired of finding me at crime scenes. And now here I am with ringside seats for an arrest.

  I throw my hand in the air. “I’m buying cupcakes. What are you doing here? This has to be a mistake!”

  “This is official police business. Just go back to Marcall’s.”

  “Don’t you boss me around, Detective Bailey!” I even plant myself in Drew’s way, which I know I’ll hear about later. I know I don’t actually have the right to impede police business, but I don’t care. “Chloe is my friend, and I demand to know what’s going on.”

  This is preposterous. Chloe would never hurt a person, much less kill them. Even if it was that creep, Morley Haynes. “Morley wasn’t murdered, he died of a heart attack. How could that be Chloe’s fault?” I remind them.

  Drew sighs loudly. A sure sign I’m really in trouble. “Morley didn’t die of a heart attack. One of Chloe’s cupcakes poisoned him,” he whispers so no one else can hear. “Now step back and let us do our job,” he growls.

  “Charlotte, you have to know I didn’t do this. I would never,” Chloe begs.

  “I know you wouldn’t! And I promise you, we’ll sort this out,” I insist. Drew stands over me, glaring at me with those mesmerizing green eyes of his, and I realize I just put myself in the middle of another investigation. Oops.

  At five feet, 10 inches, most people aren’t able to stare down at me. But Drew can. And at the moment, he’s looking superimposing and all policey. Most of the time, I find this disturbingly attractive. But right now I feel like someone who knows she’ll get lectured by her boyfriend later.

  He purses his lips at me until I finally step aside, knowing I obviously can’t prevent them from leaving. I watch with dismay as they lead Chloe back to the squad car, sliding her into the back seat. Drew doesn’t stop glaring at me until he gets in the car himself and drives away.

  Th
e crowd gathered around Chloe’s truck, murmurs in wonder. News travels fast in this town, and I know it will spread before dinner that Chloe Miller was arrested for murder.

  Just as I’m wondering if I should try to close up her truck, the Crime Investigation Unit shows up to search it. I trudge back to Marcall’s, wondering how such a great day could go so wrong so quickly and how do I keep getting stuck in the middle of these things?

  Chapter 4

  I open the door to Marcall’s, wondering how I’ll tell Damien what just happened. It certainly ruined my day, and I really don’t want it to ruin his. But the moment I walk in, I can tell by the looks on his and Aranya’s faces they’ve already heard.

  “Unbelievable,” I say, slapping my hand to my forehead. “News moves through this town faster than the speed of light.”

  “So it’s true?” Aranya cries out.

  Damien points at my hands. “I’d say, given the lack of cupcakes, it is.”

  Before I can completely shut the door, Miranda bursts in behind me, nearly knocking me over. Not only does news blaze through this town with lightning speed, but without fail, Miranda is always ready to pounce on the revelation. Of course, it helps that she owns the coffee shop across the street Bean Around a Bit, and she keeps an ever-watchful eye on us, lest she misses out on a juicy piece of gossip.

  “Holy coffee beans, is it true? Chloe killed Morley? I don’t believe it for a second. I mean, she probably hated him enough to kill him, but I know she never would. That guy was such a jerk. But no way she killed him. Did they really drag her from the cupcake truck and arrest her?”

  I’m convinced Miranda samples too much of her own product. She’s always going a mile a minute. Her spiky hair is still green today, left over from last night’s party, where she dressed as Yoda. Which, given her short stature, was perfect. As short as she and Damien are, I swear sometimes I feel like the Jolly Green Giant around here.

  “They didn’t drag her from the truck,” I correct her, shaking my head. Gossip around here gets blown out of proportion just as quickly as it gets passed around in the first place. By the end of the day, they’ll be insisting that Chloe engaged in an hours-long standoff with the police, barely escaping with her life.

  “You were there?” Miranda exclaims, wide-eyed and shocked.

  “I was there. Drew and a CPPD officer pulled up in a squad car, knocked on the door, and asked her to come out,” then I hold my hand up to stop Miranda from telling whatever far fetched tale she’s about to repeat. “She did so willingly, and then they arrested her. You guys,” I continue, looking around at the three of them, “I don’t think she even knew why they were there. She was as shocked as the rest of us. Drew said her cupcake poisoned Morley, and that’s why he died.”

  “Whoa,” Damien responds. “It wasn’t a heart attack then.”

  “Not according to Drew.”

  Damien winces. “I bet Drew wasn’t happy to see you at the scene.”

  “Oh, you got that right, my friend. And then when I stood in their way, he was extra unhappy.”

  Aranya giggles. She giggles a lot, actually. “You stood in their way?”

  “It was a spur-of-the-moment thing,” I try to explain. “And then I may have told Chloe I’d get to the bottom of all of this.”

  “No. No, you did not,” Damien responds. Damien is often the adult among us. He tries, usually without success, to keep Miranda and me in line. “You can’t get involved in another criminal investigation, boss.”

  “You didn’t say that when I was trying to clear your cousin’s name a couple of months ago, did you?” Ha! Got him there.

  “Okay, I’ll give you that one,” he responds, his cheeks turning pink. “But you and I both know that Drew will be extremely unhappy if you get involved in this. He hates it when you interfere in police work.”

  “She’s right,” Miranda says, stepping up to my side. “No way Chloe killed someone. Not even Morley. Besides, if she goes to prison, who will supply us with delectable cupcakes?”

  Damien shakes his head. “You two will use any excuse to get in the middle of an investigation.”

  “We don’t get involved on purpose,” I remind him. “These things find us.”

  “Keep telling yourself that,” he mutters, heading back into the kitchen area.

  “Several people fought with Morley last night at the party. Not just Chloe. It could have been any of them. Remember, it was his stepdaughter Shauna who said she wished he would die. Right before he actually died,” Aranya points out.

  “Yes!” Miranda exclaims, giving a little hop, clapping her hands.

  “Don’t get involved with those two, Aranya!” Damien shouts from the kitchen. “They’re trouble!”

  “You know we have to talk to Shauna, right?” Miranda asks.

  “No, you don’t!” Damien insists, poking his head out the service window.

  “We so do,” I agree. “Does anyone know where she works?”

  “She works at the Fly There Travel Agency,” Aranya says.

  Miranda circles her hand in the air. “To the travel agency!” she shouts.

  “Wait!” I urge, grabbing Miranda’s arm. “We can’t all just go marching in there. We don’t even know her. She’ll immediately be on the defensive.”

  “I know her,” Aranya says.

  “To the travel agency!” Miranda shouts again.

  Damien sighs so loudly in the kitchen he sounds like an inflatable raft that’s sprung a leak.

  Chapter 5

  Unfortunately, in our excitement, it doesn’t occur to us until we get there that three women storming the travel agency might put Shauna on edge. Especially because I assume she was already stressed out over the death of her stepfather.

  Imagine telling a person you wish they were dead and less than an hour later, they are. She must feel horrible. Unless, of course, she’s the one who did it.

  I didn’t even realize travel agencies still existed. I guess some travelers prefer the personal touch of being able to sit in front of an expert discussing their plans and budget, rather than just signing up for a trip and entering their credit card number online.

  “Hey, Shauna!” Aranya says as we tiptoe into the quiet travel agency. There’s elevator music playing softly in the background, set off by large, squishy-looking furniture. Perfect for relaxing and leafing through brochures and magazines that tell of far-off places.

  Shauna smiles briefly at Aranya, but her smile wavers when she sees Miranda and me. “Hey Aranya, what’s up?” she asks hesitantly.

  “I heard about your stepfather’s passing, and I wanted to check in to see how you are doing. And I brought my boss, Charlotte, and our friend Miranda, who owns the coffee shop across the street from Marcall’s. We didn’t think you should be alone right now.”

  Not a bad excuse for someone who hasn’t done this as many times as Miranda and me.

  Shauna scoffs, “I don’t care that he’s dead. In fact, I’m glad. And I already heard that Chloe, my dad’s former employee, poisoned him. Good for her. She should have done it a long time ago. In fact, I wish I would have thought of it.”

  Not exactly the speech I was expecting. “Er, Chloe was arrested, but we don’t know for sure that she did it,” I remind her. I bite my tongue to keep from adding that I know it’s impossible that Chloe did it because I don’t want Shauna to realize that she’s a suspect in my mind.

  “Whatever,” she responds with a shrug. “Morley was a vile person who didn’t deserve to live, and we’re all better off now that he’s gone.”

  “Shauna, this may be indelicate, but I have to ask, why are you so happy that your stepfather is dead?” I fear that the question may get me thrown out of here, but I really want to know why she’s so bitter.

  Shauna stands up at her desk, knocking several files to the floor in the process, while Miranda jumps forward to pick them up for her. “You seriously want to know why I’m glad he’s dead?” she asks, slamming her hands on the desk.

  “Um, yes?” I ponder what I’ll do if she leaps over the desk to smack me a good one.

  “I’ll tell you why. When he and my mother were married, he treated her like crap. I don’t know what she ever saw in him or why she even married him. He spent half their marriage drunk and the other half cheating on her without even trying to hide it!”