Danger with a Cherry on Top: A Beach Themed Cozy Mystery (Twisted Sisters Ice Cream Cozies Book 2) (2 page)

Quinn sat silently. She couldn’t cry anymore. Okay, that wasn’t the truth. She didn’t want to cry anymore. She was numb, and had spent the better part of the day in tears. Her father sat by her side. They didn’t speak. They sat quietly trying to absorb the news. Quinn knew the weekend was busy and told her mother she’d be in earlier then her usual start time at nine o’clock. Her mother stayed late and would go in early on weekends so they always had a full batch of their most popular flavors, fresh and ready to go. Saturdays, the store was usually packed, and Sundays everybody crammed in at the end of the day to grab a stash of goodies before heading home. Weekdays saw sales, but nothing like the weekend.

When she showed up to work, the last thing she expected was to trip over her mother’s body. She hadn’t been paying attention. She was too busy selecting her playlist for the morning, popping in her earbuds, and going to check inventory.

Quinn screamed, yanked her earbuds out, and dialed 9-1-1. Time stood still. Her heart stopped beating. She forgot how to swallow and couldn’t breathe. Nothing made sense. Reality had a hard time connecting as shock set in. 

When the cops arrived, they found the girl rocking in place and crying. One of the officers gently removed her from the scene and sent for more help.

***

Lottie’s burglary was one thing, but losing Jane was quite another. She was determined to find out what was going on, and who caused such a tragedy. With the help of her family, Lottie swore that she wouldn’t rest until Jane’s murderer was brought up on charges. Whatever was going on, it needed to stop, and it needed to stop now.

After everybody got word of the latest break-ins and Jane’s murder, the boardwalk committee held an emergency meeting.  It was urgent to bring forth any information that might help catch the suspect. Anybody with surveillance cameras were told to look for clues and get copies of anything suspicious to the police immediately.

Scott from Scubarubin’ Scuba Shop sent out the memo. It was a must attend meeting, first thing Monday morning. Nobody could afford to stop working through the weekend. That was a given when you worked in a seasonal town on the boardwalk. It was just the way it was.

Pops Carlucci, Lottie’s father, was a retired Philadelphia detective. If anybody could pick up on the smallest of clues, he’d be able to. He had a keen eye for a retired guy. A quick train of thought, and a quicker wit to go with it. While he couldn’t investigate everybody’s shop if they didn’t allow it, he did have a lot to work with at the Twisted Sisters Ice Cream stand. Whoever was there made a certified mess. Crushed inventory, machines turned on and left to run out, ice cream all over the floor…and then there was the door. The kicked in door with a washed-clean footprint that no longer existed.

Lottie wasn’t much help. She was crumpled up in the front of her car crying over her lost friend. Pops told her to go home and rest up. When he was finished looking for clues, he’d make sure the place was cleaned up properly.

Thankfully, Giuseppe showed up to work when he was supposed to, and Gina could tear away. She rushed to her sister’s side to comfort her, while her father got to work dusting and checking for any prints he could find. He’d comb the place over, looking for hair, a scrap of fabric, or any other details the burglar left behind.

Only what he found wasn’t as much in the shop as it was just outside. Where the door had been broken, the point of weakness offered more information than they could have hoped for. Trace evidence was often the biggest help.

The person took the time to clean off the door, but forgot part of the metal frame that separated the inside and outside. On the threshold, there was the tiniest bit of a print. It wasn’t much, but it was something. They’d stepped partially onto the threshold when they entered the premise. It was obvious the person tried to wipe down a couple of places, like the handle on the ice cream machine, the door knob and such, but on one of the boxes of cones they’d knocked over and crushed, you could see a bit more of a shoe print.

Pops squatted next to the door frame. On closer examination, it looked like somebody tried to pick the lock first, and got frustrated. There was a wedge mark from a tool, almost as if somebody slammed it into the wall, aggravated. It only left a small mark, and he couldn’t be positive it wasn’t already in place prior to the incident, but it was worth notating.

Bambi Truffles was new in town. She’d taken over a small corner bakery that had been vacant for the last two years. After some fixing up, updating, and cleaning things out, she had her shop set up in no time. She was good and ready to share her sweet treats with hungry customers.

“Sweet and Tasty Confections” was open and ready for business. She had donuts, muffins, cupcakes, flaky elephant ears, cookies and more. Cakes were by custom order, so she didn’t have as much waste at the end of the day.

Bambi flew a large feather flag with the word ‘open’ on it, and made sure her sign was bold and colorful. Other than passerby’s, she’d have to rely on ads in the small local paper until business picked up on word of mouth, which she knew it would. She’d run a bakery before and knew how things went. In fact, she’d owned one in Oklahoma, Maine, Texas, and Colorado, before settling on New Jersey. Bambi Truffles got around. While she could escape a state with little notice, she couldn’t escape her love of all things sweet and tasty. Baking was what she did best. Each town, she took on a new name and a new identity. She figured Bambi was a shoe-in at the Jersey shore.

Bambi had one other weakness. Men. Now if she could keep one long enough, and stay out of trouble long enough, well, life might just turn around for her. She was tired of moving, chasing away skeletons that snuck out from her closet, and tired of the lies. At least she was good at them. Lying that is. She was amazing when it came to baking flaky, delicious treats.

***

Norm Frederick was never one to pass up a cupcake kind of shop, and on seeing the bakery open and running, he decided to pay the patisserie a visit. Norm checked his toupee in the rear view mirror of his convertible and smoothed down strays and his ruffled layers. He lowered his sunglasses and winked at himself. As he stepped out of his car, he gave the old sky-blue Caddy door a hard swing. With the confident stride of a retired man with bad knees, he wobbled his way into the bake shop.

Bambi turned on the charm and sent Norm out of the shop with a box full of goodies and the promise she’d go for a ride in his restored Cadillac later. Norm left with a smile and more sugar than a diabetic should have. The old man grinned big and wide. He still had it. The lady bird was all over his charisma, practically falling over herself to sell her goods. She had plenty of goods to offer herself. She was a pretty lady and amazingly single. Sure, he was older, but he figured his experience and style gave him an edge over the younger bucks. To his surprise, she said yes when he offered to take her for a spin.

Gina and Lottie sat with their father and jotted a couple of thoughts down. Pops would try to get into the fudge shop with one of the Wildwind officers and have a look around. There had to be more information to go on. With Jane’s death, solving these crimes became urgent. Not only were businesses being broken into, but a life had been taken. Quinn, that poor girl, finding her mother like that.

Lottie made sure to be present and accounted for when the Monday meeting rolled around. What was interesting wasn’t who showed up, but who
didn’t
show up.

Scott from Scubarubin’ was keeping a list of places that were vandalized or burglarized in the latest incidents. His shop had been hit, Twisted Sisters, the fudge shop, and the local surf shop took a hit on Sunday when things closed up.

There was no video footage, as security had been lacking. It was time to update to more modern technology. The boardwalk owners weren’t interested in putting out the money, but maybe if the businesses got together, they could pay for a good surveillance system.

Temporary cameras were set up by some vendor stands, but only after everything had taken place, and only in their own facilities. They didn’t want to go all ‘Big Brother’ or anything, but a sweeping view of the boardwalk at night couldn’t be a bad thing, right?

Most of the crowds were gone when the boardwalk closed at midnight, though a couple of small bars were open until two. After that, it was mostly vacant until dawn when a couple of runners or bicyclists would make use of the boarded walkway.

Everybody gathered for the meeting. Even the guy from New York that didn’t like to be bothered, because things had taken a serious turn with the loss of Jane. With news of the tragedy, tourists were on edge. Nobody expected death at their favorite vacation spot.

Two business owners were a no-show, the arcade owner and the carousel owner. Now that one of the guys came to think about it, he’d headed out to his car in the employee parking lot and saw the carousel owner dragging a bag from his car back to the boardwalk.

“It was awfully late, and I probably should have seen if he needed a hand or something, but you know, a long day and I was ready to go,” Ed, the pizza shop owner admitted. “Eh, for all I know it could have been a body in there. Better not to get involved these days.”

One of the women stood to draw everyone’s attention. “My vending cart wasn’t broken into, but somebody did vandalize it. The police figured it was some kids, but if you ask me, maybe the bad guy was looking to steal something.”

“Beatrice, who’s going to steal string? You do hair stuff, what, string in braids or something. Not exactly big money in string these days.” Lou snorted with a laugh. He operated a gift shop that housed decorative sea shells and beach towels. He sold sunglasses, suntan lotion, funny t-shirts, and boxes of salt water taffy. And magnets, who knew magnets would be so popular, but they were a good deal. Wildwind themed magnets sold at three for five dollars. People snapped them up.

Beatrice scowled and sat down.

“Everybody is important,” Scott reminded. “Randy, the surf shop got hit, right?”

“Yeah, knocked over a bunch of surf boards. Thankfully, the custom ones are hanging up on the wall, out of reach, so they were safe. That’s where my big money is.”

Scott asked for suggestions, comments, and more. When the meeting was adjourned, they’d decided that they’d take up a collection. Everybody would pitch in and they’d demand a surveillance system be installed. They’d pony up half if the boardwalk owners paid for the rest. There was a lot of length of board to cover, and a lot of shops that needed the extra set of eyes on them.

Lottie was talking to Beatrice when Scott joined them. “What exactly was Art doing that night, dragging the big bag? What do you think was in it?”

“Another horse?” Scott suggested. “Kind of an odd time of night to be working on the ride. He usually does maintenance in the morning. Maybe we should have a talk with him, seeing as he conveniently skipped the meeting.”

“I want to be there,” Beatrice chirped. “If he’s responsible, I want him to pay for the vandalism.”

“Don’t you think solving Jane’s murder is a bit more important that your spray-painted cart?” Scott asked.

“How did you know it was spray-painted? I didn’t tell anyone.” She eyed Scott suspiciously.

Scott shook his head and walked away. “Never mind.”

“Come back here,” Beatrice said, chasing after him. “What have you been doing?”

“I got a read on the shoe print, but there’s a problem. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry wears these shoes. It’s the waffle-print on the bottom of budget store flip-flops. Every store in town sells the two buck shoes. Take a look at the feet passing by and you’ll see plenty. Where does that leave us?” Pops scratched his head, talking more to himself than his daughters who sat with him.

“What about Jane?” Gina asked. “Are there any leads? Any new information?”

“They won’t tell me anything when I ask,” Lottie admitted. “Dad?”

“Right, I’m on it. I’m going to see if Charlie will let me on the scene.” Charlie was the one that let Pops in on the last tragic scene, looking for clues. Since Pops was a retired detective, Charlie knew his experience could help them.

“Gina, will you go with me to talk to somebody? Art from the carousel was seen late at night, dragging some kind of bag. Anyway, I thought maybe we could see if he gives up anything. On the other hand, maybe he saw something that can help. Obviously, we’re not accusing him of anything, it’s just a bit suspicious what Ed saw.”

Gina shook her head. “Sure, let me grab my purse and we’ll head out. Vinny and Giuseppe are covering the deli. As long as it’s still standing when I get there, I’ll call it a win. I try not to schedule those two together too often anymore, as it only leads to squabbling. Ugh, did I tell you Mikey was still hanging around? He came by the house late last night, and the guy outright hit on me, right in front of Rick.”

Lottie laughed. “Still the charmer?”

“Kid is trouble, that’s all I’m saying. Where are his boundaries?” Gina groaned.

***

Art Capelli was a dedicated man. He paid attention to detail, cared deeply about each and every one of the horses on the carousel and had named them all. His favorite was Lenora, a beautiful stallion with reigns of gold. That carousel had seen many a good day, but, eh, the modern day kids wanted more thrills and chills than his horses could offer. Sure, sure, the younger children still loved to ride the carousel, but the ride was feeling dated. The organ music played the same songs day after day, and the big white lights and red top gave it a carnival look.

Art had something big in mind. Something that would shake up the boardwalk and take things to the next level. Of course, not everybody was a forward thinker like he was.

When Lottie Carlucci and Gina Ambrogi came knocking at his door before opening hours, he found it a little suspicious. They were never on the boardwalk at the crack of dawn.

Art looked at the women and stepped out of his workplace. He closed the door tightly behind him, making sure nobody was able to peek inside. “What can I do for you?”

Lottie started. “Art, I’m going to be straight with you. With all the break-ins going on, and well…Jane’s death, I’m trying to learn as much as I can. Somebody saw you dragging a bag from your car the other night, later than usual. Anything you can tell us about that?”

“Wow, right to the point, huh? Not that it’s any of your business, but I had some new supplies I wanted to bring in. I’m working on freshening up a few things.”

“Care to elaborate?” Gina pushed.

“Not really, thanks. Have a good day.” He turned to go back inside.

Gina continued. “No, that’s fine, we’ll send the cops over to ask the questions instead. It’s easier that way. Sorry to have bothered you.”

Art spun around and scowled. “Then it will get out before I’m ready. Can’t you two just mind your own business?”

“A dear friend and one of our boardwalk business owners was killed. Does that mean anything to you?” Lottie slapped her hands on her hips. “Or is there a reason you’re in such a hurry to get rid of us.”

Art sighed. “Fine, come on inside.”

Gina and Lottie looked at one another. Would going in be dangerous for them? If they went inside, would they come out? Or would they meet the same fate as their friend Jane did? “Tell us here.”

Art growled. “Fine, wait here. I’ll be right back.”

Lottie shrugged at Gina, not having a clue what Art would be bringing back.

When he opened the door, he held up a large colored pencil sketch with intricate detail.

“That’s gorgeous,” Gina gasped. “Did you draw that?”

“You like it? Really? It’s not traditional.”

“It’s stunning. It really stands out. I like how this horse looks here.”

Art glistened as his cheeks turned red. “Thank you. I’ve been here late at night when we’re closed trying to design the future of the carousel. To be honest, sales have been falling, and I wanted to try giving it a trendier look. You know I love the tradition, but the kids are bored. I thought maybe giving it a modern, fresh look, maybe it would draw the attention of the families back to giving the carousel a whirl.”

Lottie examined the detailed drawing. “That’s so creative.”

Art stood a little taller. “I’m sorry I was cranky earlier. I’ve been keeping some late nights. I wish I had more information about what’s been going on, but all of my spare time has been in getting this just right. Then there’s the process of picking out the right color combinations. I went through drawing after drawing until I got it right. I’m hoping to open next season with a brand new look.”

Gina and Lottie left the boardwalk and headed back to Gina’s house. It was still early enough that they could sit and enjoy a cup of tea and gossip a bit.

Arriving home, Gina scoffed at the trail of sand her son had left through the garage. Items were tossed rag-tag on top of the washer, and the surf board that her son had apparently used earlier was hanging lop-sided, dangerously close to falling. It didn’t matter how many times she’d asked the boy to clean up after himself, he always left a mess.

“Give me a minute. I want to give Giuseppe a call.” Gina dialed her son’s cell phone number and waited for him to pick up. She started talking before he could say ‘hello’ and asked what was wrong with his arms and legs that he couldn’t clean up after himself like everybody else.

“It was late, Mom. I was trying to be quiet, so I didn’t wake anybody. I overslept this morning, and had to get to the deli. I’ll clean it up later.”

“Late? You weren’t out surfing this morning?”

“Mikey thought it would be cool to go moonlight surfing,” he started.

“You what? Without anybody else around? What if something happened? You know I don’t like you…” She collected her thoughts. He was an adult now. You’d think capable of making smarter decisions. Gina took a deep breath. “Mikey should know better, too. No surfing if there’s not a lifeguard or a group of people there.”

“It’s fine, nothing happened. We just caught a few waves and crashed on the beach for a while. I don’t know what the big deal is.”

“The big deal is moonlight surfing, alone…” Gina sighed. “Please clean this mess up when you get home. Before you go back out. Understand?”

“Yeah, right. Sorry.” They were finished.

“That boy,” Gina groaned.

“You’re going to have to let him go at some point. He’s a man.”

“Still living at Mom’s house, and still acting like he’s ten years old sometimes. Lottie, what if something had happened?”

“I know, hon. I know. It’s scary. But think back on all the things we used to do that Mom and Dad would freak out about if they knew. As kids, we thought we were safe from harm, no matter how reckless we got. Do you remember that weekend we snuck into the city to see the concert? Two young teens, taking the bus, switching buses, and hitchhiking home?” Lottie made the sign of the cross. “Sorry, Ma. Rest in peace.”

“She’s probably turning over in her grave hearing that,” Gina whispered.

“She can’t hear you,” Lottie said.

Gina raised an eyebrow. “You don’t know. Besides, what was all that? Sorry, Ma?”

“Right, fine, well, it can’t hurt to be cautious.”