The Diva Frosts a Cupcake (17 page)

“Yes! That’s it. He started with a few cat trees against the walls, and then just kept connecting them until he filled the room.”

“The bedroom appeared very tidy,” said Humphrey.

“That’s because there’s so little there. The bedroom looked like a monk’s quarters. A bed, a dresser, and a throw rug. Nothing personal, like cologne or a book.” She rubbed her eye carefully. “I hate to say it after he’s been such a pest, but I felt sorry for him. It was like that room reflected how empty his life is.”

We fell silent. I studied the menu, even though I knew it by heart. Myra was right. Maurice was grating—maddening, really. He twisted what people said, and even though Spenser appeared to be kind to him, Maurice insisted on acting ugly.

“I wish I had known about this. I could have saved you a lot of trouble.” Joy closed her menu. “I’m certain I would have noticed a dog around.”

“What exactly happened to you in the backyard?” Humphrey placed his napkin on his lap. “I nearly had a coronary when the police rolled up. I thought a neighbor had called them and reported prowlers.”

Joy explained about the wire and falling down the stairs. “It was just dumb luck that Nina and Sophie happened to be there. I wouldn’t have called the cops, but now I’m so glad that they did. There’s finally something on record proving that I’m not just drugging myself or imagining things.”

Joy ordered the Three Cheese Ravioli with Lobster Sauce and excused herself.

I had just ordered the Pomegranate-Glazed Rib Chop when Nina leaned over, and whispered, “We’ve got trouble now.”

Renee walked toward us. I turned to see where Joy had gone. Fortunately, they had just missed each other.

Renee waltzed up to the table and kissed Humphrey—full on the lips.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Dear Natasha,

What’s the difference between a cupcake liner, a cupcake wrapper, and cupcake papers?

—Confused in Kissimmee, Florida

Dear Confused,

A cupcake liner is the little paper cup in which a cupcake is baked. It goes into the cupcake pan, and the batter is poured inside it. A cupcake wrapper is a decorative outer sleeve for a cupcake. Some are cut into fancy designs, and some have ornate edging. However, wrappers, as the name implies, go over the cupcake liner after the cupcake has been baked. Cupcake papers may include both.

—Natasha

Myra huffed. She watched Renee with her mouth open.

I didn’t relish the idea of Humphrey being taken in by a murderess, but at that moment, I was more concerned about how many glasses of wine it would take before Myra whipped off her bra and swung it like a lasso.

When Renee released her hold on Humphrey, he could barely breathe. Orange lipstick was smeared around his mouth like a clown.

Myra held out her hand to Renee and smiled pleasantly. “Hi. I’m Myra.”

“Renee. You look familiar.”

“Mmm. I believe I ate some of your cupcake at the dinner on Saturday night.”

I watched them like a Ping-Pong match. Renee had started out strong with that ravenous kiss, but Myra had evened the score and thrown Renee off her game with that one clever reference to Renee’s disastrous cupcake.

Renee focused on Humphrey. “Sweetie pie,” she cooed, “where have you been? I’ve been calling, but you’re not answering your phone.”

Humphrey patted his pocket. “Um, no. I turned it off.”

“I bought some furniture, and I was hoping you could pick it up for me again.”

Myra sipped from her third glass of wine. “Doesn’t the store deliver?”

“I buy antiques.” Renee spoke so sweetly that I could almost feel the sugar rush.

The corners of Myra’s mouth twitched. “I don’t imagine they’re open at this hour.”

Francie snickered, which only made the standoff worse.

I had no idea what I could do to save Humphrey.

“I’ll call you in the morning?” he said.

“Just a sec, hon.” Myra dipped a napkin into her water glass. Cupping the side of his face with one hand, she gently wiped the lipstick off his mouth. “Much better. That’s not a good color for you. Not for anyone, actually.” And then she winked at the rest of us.

Renee appraised Myra. “Humphrey, sweetie, when you’re all done here, drop by the bakery. I’ll have some dessert waiting for you.” She turned on her heel and hurried out before anyone could say another word.

Myra watched her leave. “I don’t like that woman. She’s all sugary outside, but there’s something devious living inside of her. You know, like those alien creatures that explode from people’s stomachs in horror movies?”

Fortunately our laughter broke the tension.

“Be careful around her, Humphrey.” Myra sipped more wine. “Besides, that shade of orange never looked good on anyone. I won’t use it on my clients. It makes
her
look like a ghoul.”

Our dinner arrived, but Joy hadn’t returned to the table. After a few minutes, I thought I’d better check on her. What if she had run into Renee on the way out?

I trotted down the steps that led to the ladies’ room. From the little passage, I could see into the bar. Nick lounged comfortably on a loveseat, his hand playing with the long curls of Alex’s Realtor, Kayla. She giggled and flirted. There was no way of knowing if he’d met her at the bar or they were on a date, but I had a feeling Joy was sobbing in the ladies’ room.

I opened the door and let it close behind me completely. “Joy?”

“Did you see?” Her voice came from one of the stalls.

“I’m sorry.”

She blew her nose. “Do you think
he
hung that wire to get rid of me?”

That frightening possibility hadn’t crossed my mind. It scared me even more that she thought Nick might have done such a thing. I tried to answer benignly. “I don’t know him very well. It seems unlikely. Didn’t you just move in with him?”

“It’s only been three days! How can he already be with another woman?”

I felt terrible. How many things could go wrong in Joy’s life? She’d been sitting at home while Nick was putting the moves on another attractive woman. I’m ashamed to admit that I wondered if his cousin Alex might be like that, too.

“How could I be so stupid?” Joy emerged from the stall, wiping her eyes. She splashed water on her face and dabbed it with a paper towel. “I will never trust a man again. Never!” Her chest heaved with each breath she took, and she twisted the paper towel with white-knuckle hands.

“Come on back to the table. You should eat something.” She needed strength, because she was going to have to confront Nick and have it out.

She nodded. “Do me a huge favor? I don’t want him to know I saw him. Can you sort of give me some cover?”

“Sure.” Everyone handled romantic disappointments differently. And if she really thought he’d strung that wire so she would fall, then I could understand why she wouldn’t want him to know he’d been caught. On the other hand, if that was really the case, it seemed like she would want to move out that very second. At least, I would have.

She shot out the door and rushed through the little corridor back to the restaurant side of The Laughing Hound. I trailed along behind her, hoping that if Nick had looked our way he would have seen me, not Joy.

We resumed our meal, but I noticed Myra surreptitiously watching Joy. For dessert I ordered my favorite, The Laughing Hound’s incredible smooth and creamy chocolate mousse along with a cup of hot tea. The mousse arrived with a dollop of whipped cream on top, little raspberry sauce hearts on the white plate around the mousse, and a stemmed strawberry in the cream. It was such an indulgence.

Myra had ordered the same thing, but she ignored her mousse. Her eyes on Joy, she stirred her coffee. “Well, are you going to tell us what happened, honey?”

I expected Joy to balk, to deny that anything was wrong.

“I saw my boyfriend flirting with another woman in the bar.”

Humphrey laid his napkin on the table with drama, like he was drawing a sword. “What a scoundrel! I shall have a word with him.”

It appeared Joy was trying to hide her amusement at his offer. “Don’t bother. It was folly of me to think Nick and I had something going. I’ve never had a relationship that slid downhill so fast. Over dinner I came to the sad realization that he lost interest as soon as he got what he wanted from me—money.”

Myra sipped her coffee. “Are you talking about Nick Rigas?”

Joy nodded her head. “How did you know?”

Myra clucked. “He’s a worm. Did you make his car payment or pay off his credit card bill?”

Joy’s mouth fell open. “It’s like you can read my mind! His rent. He was four months behind.”

Myra nodded knowingly. “There ought to be signs on all the roads leading into Old Town with his picture and a warning to women. Don’t beat yourself up, honey. I fell for him, too. That girl he was flirting with? Won’t be long before he taps her purse and moves on.”

Francie had been silently savoring her mousse. She put down her spoon and asked sternly, “Do you think he’s the one who strung the wire across the stairs?”

I feared her question would bring on a fresh torrent of tears from Joy.

She kept herself remarkably composed. It was as though seeing Nick with another woman had calmed her. Or maybe she was holding it all in right now and would go home and have a good cry. Except home was where Nick lived.

Joy toyed with her fruit tart. “Much as I’d like to, I can’t eliminate that as a possibility.”

“You poor thing!” Myra placed her fists on the table and leaned toward Joy. “You are not going back there tonight. Not under any circumstances. I won’t hear of it. You come on home with me. Humphrey and I will get the gang from the mortuary to move you tomorrow.” She waggled a finger at Joy. “Do not go home and be alone with Nick. I know how persuasive he is.”

“I can’t do that. You hardly know me.”

“We girls have to stick together, especially when there’s a predator like Nick around. No, ma’am, I’m not letting you go back. I swear he’ll weasel your last cent out of you.”

Joy smiled. “Too late. He’s already done that. But I couldn’t impose.”

“Humphrey will stay over, too. You trust him, right? We’ll have a slumber party and drink wine and say lots of ugly things about Nick.”

“Okay. I thought I would have to spend the night at the bakery sleeping in a chair.” Joy smiled for the first time all night. “That’s so nice of you. I’m a stranger to you.”

“I have a sixth sense about people.” Myra slid her hand through the crook of Humphrey’s arm. “Don’t I, sweetums?”

I’d never seen Humphrey quite so undone. He seemed happy yet ill at ease at the same time. He lifted his chin and sat up straight. “This has turned out to be quite an evening. Now if we could only find Buddy.”

Francie opted to walk home with Nina and me. I couldn’t blame her. The evening air felt just warm enough to make me want to stroll.

When we reached my house, I asked, “Nightcap?”

The three of us settled in my kitchen with Daisy, Duke, and Mochie. I brought out tiny gold-rimmed glasses with floral etching on the sides and poured peach schnapps for Nina and me. Francie preferred the rich almond taste of Amaretto.

“That was something tonight.” Francie sat back and propped her feet up on a footstool. “Maurice turned out to be a sad, lonely cat lover, and that sweet Renee was ready to do just about anything to get Humphrey away from Myra. Who’d have expected that?”

Nina laughed. “Myra held her own. Did you see how deftly she made sure Humphrey wouldn’t swing by Renee’s for that dessert she promised him?”

I handed each of them a napkin. “I don’t know about Myra inviting Joy to stay with her. What if Joy is really the killer?”

“I’m a little perplexed by the breakup between Joy and Renee.” Nina savored a sip of the schnapps. “It sounds like Joy made off with their money and wound up paying Nick’s bills with it. Yet, Renee, who was pleading poverty, is buying furniture.”

“I don’t understand how Renee can sleep in the apartment where Muffin was murdered,” said Francie. “I think I’m a pretty tough ol’ gal, but that would give me the willies.”

“Me, too.” Mochie jumped onto my lap and purred. “Joy’s abrupt departure from their business seems so underhanded. But someone has tried to kill Joy twice. That sort of points to Renee, doesn’t it?”

“I bet Renee killed Muffin for that jeweled cupcake that was stolen from Spenser. I didn’t know Renee could be so vindictive. She comes across so sweet—all smiles and cutesy clothes and cupcakes.” Nina poured herself another shot of schnapps. “But after that kiss she planted on Humphrey, which was only for Myra’s benefit, it’s perfectly clear that she can be jealous and domineering. Remember what Myra said? ‘There’s something devious living inside of her
.
’”

Francie snorted. “There’s something devious in all of us. We wouldn’t be human if we didn’t feel jealousy or anger sometimes. It’s not that I want to defend Renee, but I’m not sure how any of us would act under the extraordinary stress she’s been through. If you ask me, it’s pretty amazing that she’s functioning at all. And she did keep Sugar Baby going, so she’s had some income coming in.”

“Or she could have sold Joy’s grandmother’s ring,” I pointed out.

“We’re overlooking something major here,” said Nina. “Unless Humphrey gave someone else a ride in his car, the only person who could have left Spenser’s cupcake in Humphrey’s car is Renee. It’s conclusive evidence.”

“Spenser said he and Renee go way back. It sounded as though they were on good terms,” I said. “Why would she have stolen it from him?”

“They must be good friends, or he wouldn’t have allowed her to use his bakery while hers was out of commission,” observed Francie.

“But don’t you see the consistency?” argued Nina. “First Renee steals Spenser’s cupcake, then she steals Joy’s grandmother’s diamond ring.”

“There’s something else that’s been bothering me, too,” I said. “Someone swapped flour for powdered sugar at Cake My Day. Renee was the one who suffered most as a result, because she might well have won best cupcake if that hadn’t happened. I wonder if Spenser sabotaged her.”

Francie dropped her feet to the floor. “I’m going home to bed. I hate to imagine that either Joy or Renee is sufficiently depraved to have killed Muffin. I wish we had something more concrete to go on.”

Nina stretched. “I’ll see you home, Francie. And maybe I’ll give Wong a call tomorrow morning—see if she’ll share anything.”

I walked to the front door with them. “Good luck with that! I bet Wong will be zipped up tight.”

The next morning, I dared to sleep in a little bit, but not too long. I had a luncheon meeting with a local women’s group about their fundraiser for children in need. Mochie snuggled up on top of me, which he knew would force me to get out of bed and feed him. After a cup of coffee, yogurt, and fruit, I took a walk with Daisy, then came home and went over my notes about the meeting.

I showered and hit the makeup pretty heavily. It wouldn’t do to face the upper crust women of Old Town with a black eye. I chose a tailored blue dress with a round neckline and added a strand of pearls, gold earrings, and low heels, since the meeting would only be a few blocks away.