Leighann Dobbs - Lexy Baker 09 - Ice Cream Murder Read online

  “Suspicious, how?” Lexy asked.

  “Mr. Banks didn’t die of natural causes,” Jack said.

  “What? We all saw him die. It looked like a heart attack to me,” Lexy said.

  Jack nodded. “It probably did. But the EMT’s noticed evidence that he died from anaphylaxis.”

  “What’s that?” Anna asked as she noisily slurped the drink through the straw.

  “An allergic reaction,” Nans said. “Can cause swelling, hives, vomiting, low blood pressure…”

  “My cousin is allergic to bees. She has to carry an epi-pen in case she gets stung. She has to inject herself right away or she could die.” Anna turned her big blue eyes, which Lexy noticed were starting to become slightly unfocused, on Jack. “Is that what happened to Mr. Banks?”

  Jack nodded. “His throat swelled, making it impossible to breathe.”

  Lexy cringed. “How awful. But I don’t remember seeing any bees in here.”

  Jack’s eyes darkened as he looked back up to the head table. She followed his gaze to where John was putting Regis’ ice cream bowl into a large plastic bag. John sealed the bag, then turned and walked toward them at the back of the room.

  “Hi, Lexy,” John pushed his long ponytail back over his shoulder as he greeted her.

  “Hi, John.” Lexy eyed the plastic bag in his hand.

  “I see you are in the middle of a controversy once again,” he teased.

  Lexy laughed. She didn’t mind being teased by John. They were good friends as he was not only her husband’s partner, he was also married to her best friend and assistant at her bakery The Cup and Cake.

  The truth was, she did have a knack for ending up in the middle of a crime. It had happened several times—in fact, she’d met Jack when she’d been accused of killing her ex-fiance. But this wasn’t a crime … was it?

  “What’s with the bag? I thought you would be looking for a bee,” Lexy asked, her stomach already sinking at the look on John’s and Jack’s faces.

  “It isn’t only bee stings that cause anaphylaxis. Food allergies can cause it, too.” Jack looked pointedly at the ice cream.

  “Food allergies? You mean like peanut butter?” Anna wavered in her chair. “We served peanut butter sauce on the ice cream, but some of the Banks family were allergic to peanuts. That’s why we had to be extra careful when serving them.”

  All eyes turned to Lexy and she felt her stomach sinking. She’d served the ice cream to the head table. But she was sure she’d been very careful to give the bowls to the appropriate persons.

  “Yes, exactly like peanut butter.” Jack’s eyes slid to the plastic bag then back to Lexy. “Is there any way you might have served peanut butter sauce to Regis Banks?”

  Lexy shook her head. “No, I’m sure I set the tray up properly and served in the right order.”

  She had, hadn’t she?

  She had been kind of rushed but Lexy took food serving very seriously. She was certain she hadn’t screwed up.

  John shrugged. “Well it could have been an accident. Maybe he switched spoons with someone or tasted someone else’s dish.”

  “Right,” Lexy said hollowly. “It must have been an accident.”

  Anna gave Lexy a woeful look and Lexy’s heart twisted. “I’m sure it was an accident. A horrible accident. But that can’t be good for business … for either of us.”

  Chapter Three

  “Accident my patootie.” Nans handed Lexy the now clean, metal ice cream container which was the last of the catering equipment they were packing into the back of Anna’s van.

  “You don’t really think someone gave him the peanut sauce on purpose, do you?” Lexy asked. “I mean, they seemed like a close family.”

  “Seemed like,” Nans replied. “On the surface it looked that way, but anyone could see there was conflict going on underneath.”

  Lexy screwed up her face. She hadn’t noticed any conflict. “I think you’re just looking for an excuse to investigate something.”

  “No. I’m sure something funny is going on,” Nans said. “I know you would never screw up something as important as that, especially when there’s a food allergy involved.”

  “I hope not,” Anna glanced nervously at the van. “I just bought this van and the bad publicity could kill my business.”

  Lexy’s heart crunched at the worry on Anna’s face. What if she had screwed up? “Don’t worry, Anna. None of this was your fault. If I accidentally served him the peanut sauce, I’ll own up to it and make sure it doesn’t hurt your business.”

  “It won’t come to that, right girls?” Ruth looked from Nans to Ida to Helen who all nodded their agreement.

  “That’s right,” Ida added as she stuffed a folded napkin bulging with the left-over madeleines into her large purse. “You girls have nothing to worry about—The Ladies Detective Club is on the case!”

  Helen patted Lexy’s arm. “Don’t worry, Lexy, we’ll get to the bottom of it.”

  Lexy smiled at the four older women, her heart warming. It was nice to have friends that stuck by you even if it might turn out that she did make a mistake. But she felt certain she hadn’t.

  She tucked the ladies into Ruth’s gigantic blue Oldsmobile and watched them drive off, wincing when Ruth took the turn too wide, running over a patch of white petunias that had been planted on the corner.

  Lexy turned back to Anna who was climbing into the catering van. “Don’t worry, Anna. Everything will be okay.”

  Anna gave her a wan smile. “I know. I just wish Mr. Banks hadn’t died in the middle of the party.”

  “Or while eating my ice cream,” Lexy added. “I’ll call you later when I find out what Jack has to say.”

  “Thanks.” Anna smiled, put the van in gear and drove off, leaving Lexy alone in the parking lot with her yellow VW bug.

  Lexy took the long way home to give herself time to think. It was possible someone had switched the ice cream dishes. But who would want to kill Regis? And who would have been able to do that without anyone noticing?

  She tried to think back to who had visited the head table, but she’d been pretty busy serving and hadn’t had her eye on it the whole time. She knew there was a lot of milling about—almost everyone at the party went up to the table to congratulate Regis after dinner.

  Which meant that almost everyone at the party was a possible suspect.

  Lexy tried to clear her head as she turned into her neighborhood. Nans must be rubbing off on her. Now she was looking at everything with a suspicious mind. Most likely, it was just an accident. She’d know more once she talked to Jack.

  A tinge of nervousness ran through her as she thought of Jack. He wasn’t happy about the way she always seemed to get herself mixed up in the middle of murder cases. She hoped he wouldn’t be mad at her.

  Lexy pulled into the driveway of the 1940s bungalow she shared with Jack. The house had been Nans and when Nans had moved into the local retirement community, she’d sold it to Lexy. Now that Lexy and Jack were married, he’d moved in and they were preparing Jack’s house for sale.

  Lexy opened the front door and was immediately assaulted by a flurry of white fur. Her Shih-Tzu Poodle mix, Sprinkles, leaped at her knees in her usual over-exuberant greeting. She bent down to scoop the little dog into her arms.

  “You’re home.” Jack made his way to her with a glass of wine. Taking the dog from her arms, he kissed her, then shoved the wine into her hand. “I thought you could use this.”

  Lexy smiled, feeling a little relieved. He wasn’t mad.

  “Thanks.” She accepted the drink, kicked her shoes off and collapsed on the couch. It had been a long day and she didn’t realize how exhausted she was until now.

  “So, did the police find anything more?” Lexy asked Jack over the rim of her wine glass.

  “Looks like it was nothing but an unfortunate accident. I hope you’re not blaming yourself.” Jack’s eyes brimmed with concern. He gently picked up her left foot and put it in
his lap, his forefinger and thumb working the tension in the arch.

  Lexy frowned. “I hope they won’t sue me or anything.”

  “First of all, no one even knows it was you that gave him the peanut sauce. The plates could have been moved or he ate out of someone’s dish.” Jack’s fingers pressed on the points below her toes and Lexy felt herself relaxing back into the couch. “And second of all, the family didn’t seem too upset about Regis’ passing.”

  Lexy’s radar pinged and she sat back up. “Really? Don’t you find that suspicious that the family didn’t care?”

  Jack shrugged and started working on her other foot. “Not really. I mean, he was pretty old. They were all probably just waiting for him to die. As you can imagine, his kids will inherit a lot of money.”

  “But that’s a perfect reason to kill him! Aren’t you going to investigate any further?”

  “Nope. We’ve determined there was no foul play.”

  “But his kids would benefit financially from his death,” Lexy said incredulously.

  “I know, but just because someone benefits from another’s death doesn’t always mean they murdered them. In this case we think it’s unlikely because of his advanced age. He wasn’t going to live much longer.” Jack shrugged.

  “I guess you’re right,” Lexy said. “Only a fool would take the risk of killing him if he was going to die on his own soon anyway, right?”

  Chapter Four

  Lexy rolled over in her bed, pulling the down comforter up to her chin. She snuggled into her pillow, sighing contentedly as a ray of sun warmed her cheek. She jerked her eyes open with a start—she was usually up well before the sun slid its rays through her window.

  Rolling over in the bed, she noticed two things. Jack was already gone and the clock read seven thirty.

  She was late!

  Lexy bolted upright in the bed. Sprinkles followed her lead, leaping onto the floor, running in circles and then jumping back on the bed again.

  Sliding her bare feet onto the hardwood floor, Lexy laughed at the antics of the little dog.

  “Don’t worry, Sprinkles, you’ll get to show off in agility class later on today.” Lexy smiled at Sprinkles, whose brown eyes gazed at her adoringly. The dog was full of energy and fast as a whip. Jack had come up with the idea of enrolling her in agility classes to help her work out some of her energy. Lexy didn’t have visions of competing or anything, but it would be a great way to spend more time with the dog and give them both some much needed exercise.

  But right now, Lexy had other things on her mind. Like hoping no one accused her of killing Regis Banks.

  Grabbing the first tee-shirt and pair of jeans she could find, Lexy hopped into the shower. There was no time to wash her hair, so she coiled it into a ponytail set on the very top of her head, pulled tight so the hair flowed down like a fountain.

  That doesn’t look too bad for not washing it, she thought, as she gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror. She applied a swipe of mascara and some charcoal eye-liner to bring out the green in her eyes and she was good to go … except for shoes.

  She grabbed a pair of wedges to add some height to her five-foot-four frame and headed downstairs, Sprinkles following obediently at her heels.

  A quick glance at the grandfather clock in the living room told her that she’d gotten ready in record time. Still, she’d be later than usual getting to the bakery. Good thing it was her assistant, Cassie’s, turn to open and start the baking.

  Lexy poured some food into Sprinkles’ bowl, shoved half an éclair into her mouth, slung her large tote bag over her shoulder and rushed out the door.

  Clip-clopping down the drive-way toward her car, Lexy caught a strange movement out of the corner of her eye.

  Were the tall shrubberies that lined the side of the driveway moving?

  She stopped in her tracks, her heart thudding. Was someone hiding in the bushes? Who would do that in broad daylight?

  “Who’s there?” The éclair she was still chewing turned to ashes in her mouth when a body in a hooded sweatshirt stepped out from the bushes.

  Lexy plunged her hand into her tote bag, her fingers frantically searching for the round canister of Mace.

  “Stop right there!” She whipped the Mace out, pointing it at the intruder.

  “Hey! Don’t shoot!” The intruder held up both hands and Lexy noticed a pad of paper in one hand and a pen in the other. “Don’t you recognize me? It’s Norman Shea.”

  “Norman?” Lexy frowned at him. He pushed off the hood to reveal frizzy, carrot-red hair and a face that was almost completely hidden by large round tortoise framed eye-glasses.

  With the hood off, Lexy recognized him. Norman Shea hadn’t changed much since high school—he even still had the ever-present notebook in his hand. Lexy remembered Norman had been a little nerdy, not as popular as Lexy, and seemed to be always writing something.

  “What are you doing lurking in my bushes?” Lexy asked.

  “I’m with the Brook Ridge Tribune,” Norman said pointing with pride to a laminated card hanging from his zipper.

  “Oh, that’s nice.” Lexy glanced at her watch. “I’m kind of in a hurry—”

  “I was hoping I could get a statement.” Norman cut her off.

  “Statement?”

  “About the murder?”

  “Murder?” Lexy narrowed her eyes at Norman.

  “Regis Banks.” Norman looked at her expectantly, his pen poised above the notepad.

  “Regis wasn’t murdered,” Lexy bristled. “He died from a food allergy. I should know, I was there.”

  “I know.” Norman said with obvious excitement. “I heard you served the fatal ice cream. I’m dubbing you the Killer Caterer—it should make for sensational headlines.”

  “What?” The word exploded from Lexy’s mouth. She could practically feel her blood pressure rising and had to make a conscious effort to stop herself from spraying Norman with the Mace—the nerve of him!

  Norman didn’t seem to notice Lexy’s fury. He was too busy scribbling in his notepad. “So, you deny it?”

  “Deny it?” Lexy fought to compose herself. “There’s nothing to deny. Regis’ death was an accident.”

  “Right,” Norman scribbled furiously. “An accident.”

  “Are you writing an article?”

  Norman nodded, his eyes gleaming with excitement. “This is my big break. That’s why I went to this trouble to get an exclusive with you.”

  Lexy stared at him incredulously. Didn’t he realize that his big break could ruin her business?

  “Norman Shea, I have nothing to say to you! In fact, you better leave right this instant or I’ll tell your mother you were the one who put the firecrackers in the school toilets senior year!”

  “You wouldn’t!”

  “Yes, I would.” Even though it had been almost two decades ago, Lexy remembered the incident well. The water pipes had burst, causing a major flood. The school had been evacuated. No one ever discovered the culprit—except Lexy. Her detecting skills had been pretty good even back then. Of course, she’d never told anyone except Norman. She wasn’t a tattle-tale, but she wasn’t above using it as a threat to get him to stop.

  Norman’s wide eyes looked from Lexy to his notepad and back again.

  “Get!” Lexy shouted, pointing to the shrubs Norman had emerged from.

  Norman snapped the cap on his pen. “All right. I’ll leave, but you can’t stop me from writing this story.”

  And then he disappeared back through the shrubs, leaving Lexy fuming in the driveway.

  Lexy’s heart sank as she slipped into her car. If Norman made good on his threat to write the article, it could put her out of business. She couldn’t just sit around and hope things blew over.

  Nope, it was in her best interest to take action to nip this whole thing in the bud and she knew the perfect people to help her—Nans and The Ladies Detective Club.

  ***

  By the time Lexy got
to the bakery, she’d calmed down. Maybe things weren’t as bad as she thought. She didn’t even know if the paper would publish Norman’s article. It was purely speculation and she doubted the paper would want to open themselves to a lawsuit.

  Cassie was taking something out of the oven when Lexy arrived and the tart aroma of lemons filled the air.

  “Yum. That smells delicious!” Lexy eyed the lemon squares with their gooey, taste-bud puckering lemon peeking out from in-between the crust that had been crumbled on top.

  “Hey, nice of you to come in today,” Cassie teased, looking at the clock pointedly.

  “Sorry, long night last night.”

  “I know, John filled me in. It’s terrible what happened.” Cassie’s pierced eyebrows wrinkled with concern. “Are you okay?”

  “Oh, yeah, I’m fine … except Norman Shea showed up in my driveway this morning and wants to write an article about me. Says he’s going to call me the Killer Caterer.”

  “What? He’s a jerk.” Cassie pulled a mixing bowl from the cabinet. “What are you going to do?”

  “Well, Nans seemed eager to investigate the whole thing, so maybe she can help prove I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

  “John said it was just an accident. Regis was old. Maybe he just forgot what bowl to eat from,” Cassie offered. “Plus, I don’t think you have to worry about Norman’s article. There’s nothing really to say and I doubt the paper is going to print something like that.”

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.” Lexy chewed her bottom lip. “I’m positive I put the right ice cream in front of him. But if I didn’t, I could have been the one that killed him.”

  “Now, don’t go blaming yourself. It was an accident, like you said.”

  “Right.” Lexy helped Cassie assemble the ingredients for the chocolate chip cookies they were making. Flour, sugar, vanilla extract, salt, chocolate chips, butter. She absently measured everything out, her mind more on Regis Banks’ death than on baking. When she was done, Cassie pulled her aside.