Powdered Peril (29 page)

“Something just happened to James Settle, and everyone’s really upset. Do you mind helping out and waiting on them? Give them whatever they want. I’ll fill you in with all of the details later.”

“I’m glad to do it,” she answered. Ever since she’d come back to town and was working for me again, Emma had become the model employee. College life away from home hadn’t agreed with her, and she was truly excited to get her old life back.

As Emma unlocked the door and led them all inside, Terri turned to me and mouthed the word, “Thanks.”

I nodded and said softly, “You’re welcome,” as she and Sandy—along with their children—walked into Donut Hearts. I noticed a few other kids who were hiding between their parents’ legs around the general vicinity, and I walked around and repeated the offer to all of them. We had about three dozen donuts left from the day’s sales, and I was glad we had them. These kids needed a good memory to help blunt the bad one they were all sharing now. By the time I’d escorted the last of them discreetly into the shop, Officer Grant drove up. I saw that Chief Martin was sitting beside him, so evidently the banishment had been lifted, at least for the moment.

As they approached me, I couldn’t help noticing how the chief’s former bulk had diminished even more than the last time I’d seen him. Since the man had been dating my mother, he’d constantly been on a killer diet and exercise plan, and it showed. I wasn’t sure how far he was going to take it. I liked carrying a few extra pounds around on my frame—or so I lied to myself whenever I passed by a mirror—unlike my best friend, Grace Gauge. She could still fit into her prom dress, while I probably wouldn’t even be able to belt my oversized robe from high school around my waist these days.

“What exactly happened here?” the police chief asked me.

“I have no idea,” I said, happy for once that I wasn’t involved in any way, shape or form.

“But you called the stabbing in,” he said, clearly a little confused by my denial.

“I didn’t see a thing. Terri Milner and Sandy White asked me to call you for them,” I admitted.

“Then where are they?”

I pointed behind me into the donut shop. “They’re having donuts with their kids. They were all pretty traumatized by what happened. If you’re looking for James, he’s over there. Doc’s trying to do what he can for him.” Just then I heard a siren’s wail in the background, and I knew that the paramedics were on their way.

Chief Martin stared at me for a second, shook his head, and then turned to his subordinate. “Grant, take Lincoln and secure the perimeter.”

“Yes, sir,” Grant said as he happily hurried into action, joining up with another officer who was doing his best to keep the growing crowd away from the blacksmith so that the doctor could work on him.

The police chief was about to join him when he turned back to me and said, “Suzanne, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t go anywhere.”

“I’m not sure what else I can tell you, but I’ll be in the shop until you need me,” I said, and then I started back into Donut Hearts.

“Hey, are the free donuts I’ve been hearing about available to everyone?” a big, husky man asked me before I could get back inside the donut shop. He must have heard someone say that I was giving them away.

“That depends,” I asked. “Are you so scared right now that you need your mommy to comfort you?”

He frowned, and then shook his head. “No, I can’t say that I am.”

“Then come back tomorrow,” I said as I patted his arm. “You can have one then.”

He smiled. “Hey, there’s no harm in asking, right?”

I liked the way he took the rejection, so I added, “If you do decide to come in tomorrow and ask for me, you can have one donut on the house.”

“That sounds good.” He smiled a bit too strongly at me as he added, “Maybe I can take you out for lunch tomorrow after you finish working.”

“That would be great,” I said with a false smile. “My boyfriend’s a state police inspector, and I expect him back in town tonight. We can both be ready about noon.”

“Did I say tomorrow?” he quickly backpedalled. “What was I thinking? I just remembered that I’m going to be out of town all day tomorrow.”

“How about a rain check, then?” I asked innocently.

“I’ll let you know,” he said, and then took off quickly down the street.

I looked over and saw the chief trying to stop folks from leaving the crime scene, but he wasn’t having much luck. Finally, he pulled a whistle out of his front shirt pocket and blew it shrilly.

Everyone stopped dead in their tracks.

“Stay right where you are,” he said with all of the authority he possessed. As he said it, I noticed that three other officers were just arriving on the scene. That left just one cop to cover the rest of April Springs, but it was understandable. Murder didn’t visit our sleepy little town every day, and whenever it did, it always threw everything off kilter until the killer was finally caught. “I’ve got an officer coming around to take your names and contact information. Be prepared to show your ID as well. Anyone without an ID will be asked to stay behind until we can determine if you’re really who you say you are.”

An older woman near him said quite clearly, “Phillip Martin, my driver’s license is at home, along with my car keys. I’m eighty-seven years old, and I knew your father and his father before him. Are you telling me that I can’t leave this chilly park and find some comfort in my fireplace at home?”

“No, that’s fine, Mrs. Jenkins. You can go.”

Before the rest of them could come up with excuses of their own, the chief added, “Okay, if you’re over eighty-five, you can take off. Everyone else needs to stick around, though.”

Mrs. Jenkins paused as she walked past me and offered me a quick wink. I smiled slightly as I returned it, and then watched her walk away without the slightest catch in her step.

As the chief and his men started taking names, a voice behind me asked sweetly, “Suzanne Hart, what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?”

Though he’d tried to disguise it, there was no way that I wouldn’t know Jake’s voice. I turned to my boyfriend and hugged him with a great deal more force than I’d intended. I’d been holding it together for the sake of everyone else around me, but having Jake there to lean on allowed me to let some of it go. “It’s just awful,” I said as the words poured out of me. “Someone just stabbed James Settle.”

“I heard about it on the radio on my way over here,” he answered. “How bad is it?”

“They’re still working on him,” I said as I glanced over in that direction.

“My timing’s pretty lousy, isn’t it?”

I hugged him tighter. “Never ever apologize for coming to see me,” I said. “How long can you stay this time?” His job investigating significant crime took him all over the state of North Carolina, and I was lucky to see him once a month, not that I was complaining. I didn’t need to be courted and pampered seven days a week, but when Jake
could
make it to April Springs I had to fight from declaring a donut holiday so I could spend more time with him.

“I don’t have much time at all,” he admitted sadly. “Are you free for dinner?”

“Why wait that long? We can start with lunch and work our way up to dinner,” I said. “I’m really glad that you’re here. Give me a second and then we can go.” I suddenly remembered Chief Martin’s instructions to me before he’d left. “Shoot. The chief asked me to hang around until after he was finished.”

“Do you know anything about what happened?” Jake asked, his gaze lingering over the crime scene.

“I heard two screams, and then a pair of my customers ran over here with their kids and asked me to call 911. That’s the sum total of everything I know.”

He nodded gravely. “Then you should be in the clear.”

“Maybe,” I said a little reluctantly.

“What does that mean?”

“James and I had a disagreement about the smoke from his portable fire pit coming into my shop this morning, but it was really nothing.”

“Is that what he was using for a forge?”

“Of course not,” I said. James had given me a crash course in blacksmithing several months before, and I’d remembered quite a few things about it. “That fire would never get hot enough for forging, but he told me that he wanted the folks who lingered to watch to stay warm, so he brought the pit along as well. That’s where all the smoke was coming from.”

“Okay. Let me talk to the chief and see if I can get you excused.”

I glanced back inside and said, “If you’d like, I can go with you. Give me a second to talk to Emma, and then we can both tell the chief I’m leaving.” I glanced over at Jake and saw that his attention was still focused on the crime scene. I doubted that he’d heard a word I’d said. “Would you rather postpone lunch and go talk to Chief Martin yourself first? I don’t mind if that’s what you want to do; really I don’t.”

He kissed me quickly, and then said, “Thanks. I won’t be long,” as he hurried toward the action while everyone else with the slightest bit of sense was doing their best to get away from it.

I walked into my donut shop and saw that nearly all of our leftover donuts had been consumed by our makeshift crowd. A great deal of the tension I’d seen earlier had begun to ease. I knew that my meager offerings wouldn’t erase what they’d seen, but at least it might help them forget, at least for a moment or two.

“Is everyone feeling better?” I asked.

As though they were all in school, the kids turned to me en masse and said in a semblance of unison, “Thank you, Mrs. Hart.”

“Actually, you can all call me Suzanne,” I said. A few of the mothers frowned at the familiarity, but I didn’t care. I wanted these kids to feel safe and welcome in my shop, and if I stepped on a few adult toes doing it, so be it.

“What do we owe you?” Sandy asked as she approached me, digging into her huge purse.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s on the house,” I said, making it loud enough for everyone to hear.

“But we had chocolate milk, too,” she protested. “The donuts may have been extras, but the milks weren’t.”

“Leave something in the tip jar if you feel like you have to, and we’ll be square,” I said. I’d originally put it there to help Emma with her college expenses, but now that she was living at home again I’d have to find another way to put it to good use. I just knew that I wouldn’t feel right keeping it for myself, or even splitting it with my assistant. There were no worries, though. I was certain that I’d find a good cause for it if I just put my mind to it.

I saw that Jake was back, but he didn’t come outside. I stepped out, and the second I saw his face, I knew that it was bad news.

“He’s dead, isn’t he?” I asked.

“I’m sorry, Suzanne.”

I felt something inside die a little. “Do they have any idea who might have done it?”

He shook his head, and I felt a rage begin to boil for whoever had taken my friend away from all of us.

“The chief needs me over there, but I thought you should know,” he said as he gave me a tender hug before he left.

When I walked back inside, I did my best to smile, even though I was shattered by the unbelievable news. “If we’re all finished eating, I’d appreciate it if you all would do something for me,” I asked loudly.

“Anything,” Terri said. “Just name it. Would you like Sandy and me to stay behind and help clean up?”

“That won’t be necessary, but thanks for the offer.”

“Then what can we do?” Sandy asked.

“I want you all to go out and try to have a lovely afternoon,” I said with my brightest smile. It was tough to do, but the kids deserved it.

It was a relief to see so many smiles coming back at me. I was still in shock about James’s murder, and I knew that the truth of the matter was that it hadn’t even hit me yet, but I had made up my mind to be brave for these kids, and I was going to do exactly that, even if it crushed me. A few mothers put money in the tip jar, though I couldn’t see what they were contributing, nor did I care.

After they were all gone, Emma said, “I’ll get started on these dishes.”

I shook my head as I said, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be happy to do them myself. Emma, thanks for sticking around to help out. I appreciate it.”

“Is it really true? How is James doing?” she asked earnestly.

“I’m afraid that he’s dead,” I answered. I looked around the dining area, and realized that the mess might be exactly what I needed to take my mind off of what had just happened. “Now take off before I change my mind.”

She was gone in an instant, and I locked the door behind her.

In fifteen minutes I had the dishes done, the floor swept,
and
the counter and tabletops wiped down, but there was still no sign of Jake. I decided not to wait for him in the shop, since a few folks had already come by and knocked to get in while I’d been cleaning up. There were two donuts left, both in the heart shape of a cutter I’d gotten from my temporary employee, Nan Winters, and I’d saved them just for him. He hadn’t had one of the new shapes of donut yet, and I wanted him to get at least one while he was in town.

I took a seat at the table out in front of the shop and watched the police move with amazing efficiency as they examined the crime scene. James’s body was gone, but his portable blacksmithing equipment was still there—and his fire pit as well, still sending up wisps of smoke every now and then. Why would someone ever want to kill him? It had to be a heated argument, no pun intended. After all, it wasn’t likely that someone had planned to stab him in broad daylight with dozens of eyewitnesses around in the park. That meant that it was either done in passion, or because the opportunity presented itself. Whoever had killed him had the guts of a cat burglar, and I didn’t envy the police chief as he tried to catch the culprit.

I was still waiting for Jake when I noticed someone walking toward me from the storefront closest to mine.

What did Gabby Williams want with me, and why did she look so upset?

I had a feeling that I was about to find out, and what was more, I was pretty sure that I wasn’t going to like it. I had to fight the impulse to run away in the opposite direction the second I saw her bearing down on me, but I held my ground as she neared me.