Ain't Seen Muffin Yet (Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Book 15) Page 4

  Lexy was bent over the oven, taking out a batch of whoopie pie cakes when Cassie came in through the back door. She picked a pink gingham vintage apron off the pegs where several were hanging by the back door. Lexy smiled at the contrast of Cassie’s nose ring, multi-studded earlobes, and aqua-tipped spiked hair against the old-fashioned gingham apron.

  “I’ve been dying to find out about this case you guys are on,” Cassie said as she pulled ingredients for blueberry muffins—milk, blueberries, butter—out of the fridge. At the Cup and Cake, they typically baked fresh pastries at various times during the day when the cafe was slow, but in the mornings, they always made fresh muffins for the morning crowd.

  “This one’s a little different because the police think they already have the killer in custody.” Lexy told her about the case, including their visit to jail and the current theory about the corn muffins, while she mixed up cream, vanilla, and sugar for the whipped filling for the middle of the whoopie pies.

  “The victim was in the Circo Acrobata? Have you seen the show?” Cassie asked.

  “No.” Lexy tested the cakes to see if they’d cooled enough then flipped them upside down and started spreading the filling. “Is it like a circus? Muriel Maguire mentioned something about trapezes and stuff.”

  “Sort of. They have high-wire acts, trapezes, and lots of dance and acrobatics. Good music. It’s kind of classy, like that Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas.”

  “Really? It’s hard to picture Mario Blondini doing anything classy. Helen was so mad at him yesterday I thought she was going to spit.”

  Cassie grinned. “Is the presidential race getting heated?”

  “Yeah. You’d think they were running for president of the country, not just the community center.”

  Cassie carefully poured the batter into Teflon muffin cups. “Well, I hope she wins. I wouldn’t want Blondini in there. In fact, I thought it was odd he was running. Guess he’s bored since he retired from the show. But part of me wonders if he’s up to something. I’ve heard rumors.”

  Lexy was all ears. “What kinds of rumors?”

  “Oh, just that maybe they were involved in some shady stuff. Like that big heist that happened a few months ago.”

  “Really? Ruth ran into an old friend of Nunzio’s when we visited the prison, and he mentioned something about a heist.” Maybe Ruth’s idea about talking to Vinny wasn’t so far-fetched. Too bad Lexy had promised Jack she wouldn’t go to the jail.

  “Well, it’s just rumor. Probably nothing to it.” Cassie put the blueberry muffins in the oven and started on a batch of chocolate chocolate chip.

  Lexy thought about that as she finished up the whoopie pies. Could the heist be related to Rosie’s murder? And if so, did it have something to do with the Blondinis? Henry had said that Rosa was worried about something to do with family. But if Rosa was in on the heist, wouldn’t Henry have known? Maybe she was trying to keep it from him and he found out. Would that make him mad enough to kill her?

  Lexy put the whoopie pies on a paper-doily-lined tray then untied her apron—vintage cherries—and slipped it over her head. Smoothing her navy-blue t-shirt over her faded jeans, she glanced at the clock.

  “I’m supposed to meet Nans and the ladies at ten. We’re going to scope out some of the bakeries local to the scene of the crime to see if any of them sell corn muffins with sugar crystals.” Lexy was excited about scoping out the other bakeries. She always liked to compare other bakeries to her own. Sometimes it gave her good ideas for new pastries or how to arrange them, and others, it just made her feel proud that her bakery was the nicest one in the area.

  “Sounds like fun. Today should be an easy day since it’s mid-week. I’ll man the fort.”

  Lexy picked up the tray of whoopie pies and headed toward the front part of the bakery where the pastry cases and cafe tables were. “I was hoping you’d say that. I’ll just put these in the case and open the shop on my way out.”

  Lexy arrived at Nans’s twenty minutes later carrying a white bakery box filled with pastries she’d taken from her bakery. She knew they were going to be visiting plenty of bakeries that day, but Ida would have a conniption if Lexy showed up empty-handed.

  Ida answered the door and promptly relieved Lexy of the box, slipping the lid open and peeking in on the way to the dining room table, where everyone was sipping coffees.

  “Hi, dear.” Nans gestured toward an empty chair. “Have a seat. Ruth was just mapping out our route to the Confection Connection.”

  Lexy sat while Ida piled the pastries on a platter. Ida took an almond croissant for herself and then passed the tray around.

  “So, did you find out anything interesting from Jack?” Nans asked.

  “He wasn’t familiar with the case but said he’d look into it,” Lexy said. “I did find out something interesting from Cassie, though.”

  Nans paused the bran muffin she’d chosen halfway to her mouth. “Oh? Do tell.”

  Lexy picked a snickerdoodle from the pastry tray and broke off a small piece. “She said she heard some rumor that the circus the Blondinis belonged to was involved in some heist.”

  Ruth perked up. “The heist that sent Vinny to the can?”

  Nans looked at Ruth. “The can? What kind of talk is that? I think you hung around with Nunzio too much.”

  Ruth pulled out her iPad. “I told you we should go back and talk to Vinny. He could be a wealth of information. Let’s see what I can find out about this heist.”

  “In light of this new news, maybe we should add a visit to Vinny to our list,” Nans said.

  Lexy broke off a bigger piece of cookie. “Jack made me promise I wouldn’t go back to the prison. It was a condition of him looking into the case.” She shoved the piece of cookie into her mouth.

  Nans made a face. “Oh. Well, we wouldn’t want you to go back on a promise. Maybe we’ll go without you if we deem it necessary.”

  “There’s only one heist I can find mentioned here,” Ruth said as she tapped on the surface of the iPad. “The Broadmoore Heist. You know, that big mansion on the hill with the great mountain view.”

  “I heard about that,” Helen said. “Someone stole a bunch of antiques, and the police have no leads.”

  “No leads?” Ida looked interested. “Maybe we should expand our repertoire and solve that case too.” The ladies normally only solved murder cases, but Lexy could see by the way they were considering it they wouldn’t mind branching out into burglaries.

  “Let’s just focus on the one we have for now,” Nans said. “But maybe after we solve Rosa’s murder, if nothing else of interest comes up, we can solve that case too.”

  “The two might be related if the Blondinis did have something to do with the heist,” Lexy said. “What did they steal?”

  “Just some vases and paintings. Old ones worth a lot,” Ruth said. “Doesn’t seem very smart to me. It’s hard to sell that stuff because it’s too recognizable. At least that’s what Nunzio told me.”

  “Even more reason it could be the Blondinis,” Helen said. “They aren’t that smart.”

  “Good point.” Nans started clearing the table. “We’ll keep that under consideration. For now, though, I say we get over to the Confection Connection. The sooner we find the place that sells those muffins, the sooner we can cross that clue off our list.”

  Chapter 7

  The Confection Connection was a small bakery with a pink-and-white awning. The awning was cute, but Lexy noticed right away that they had no cafe tables and no coffee station. Hardly competition for her place.

  Ida and Lexy stood at the bakery case, inspecting the pastries.

  “The frosting is kind of skimpy on those cupcakes.” Ida pointed to a row of cupcakes that, in Lexy’s opinion, were barely frosted. She always tried to put at least an inch of frosting on hers, and these barely had a quarter of that.

  “I agree,” Lexy whispered. “And look at how small the brownies are.”

  Lexy always cut gia
nt four-by-four-inch brownies at the Cup and Cake, and the ones in this case were more like bite-size pieces.

  “They’re tiny!” Ida hissed as she sidled over toward the counter. “I better order a sampling of some of these for taste-testing purposes.”

  While Ida ordered, Lexy joined Nans at the muffin case. They had corn muffins but none with sugar crystals.

  “Excuse me,” Nans called to the clerk who was ringing up Ida. “Do you have corn muffins with sugar crystals on top?”

  The clerk made a face. “Sugar crystals? No. That’s gross.”

  “Not necessarily,” Nans said. “I love the little crunch those crystals make. Of course, one has to be careful not to break a tooth. Has anyone ever ordered some with those on them?”

  The clerk shook her head. “No. I would remember that. Not sure I would even do it. They have to be put on when the muffins are hot in order to stick. Are you ladies going to buy something?”

  Nans scanned the pastry case. “Umm… I’ll have a lemon square and a molasses cookie.”

  “They’re kind of small… better get two,” Ida whispered.

  “I think I’ll stick with one. Trying to watch my weight.” Nans turned to Ruth and Helen, who were over by the window. “Do you want anything, Ruth? Helen?”

  “No thanks,” they chorused.

  By the time Nans paid for her purchase, Ida had already devoured a brownie and was halfway into a cupcake. She leaned over toward Lexy and lowered her voice. “Not nearly as good as yours.”

  Lexy was heartened by the compliment, but the warm feeling burst when Helen gasped and pointed at the window. “Would you look at who’s out there! I bet he followed us!”

  Lexy glanced out to see Mario Blondini and Endora walking away. Endora was munching on a chocolate cookie, and she glanced back with a smirk as Helen tapped loudly on the window.

  Helen watched them walk away, her eyes blazing with fury. “Well, I never! He’s moved my signs, he’s piggybacking on my ideas, and now he’s following me? The nerve!”

  At Ida’s insistence, they stopped off at the Cup and Cake on the way back to Nans’s. She said she needed some good pastries to get rid of the taste from the Confection Connection.

  Cassie was done with the morning’s baking and pulled the fresh pastries from the case for them as they filled her in on their trip to the Confection Connection.

  “I don’t think it’s anywhere near as nice as the Cup and Cake,” Helen said, taking the piece of red velvet cake she’d ordered over to the coffee station and pouring a dark roast into one of the white stoneware mugs that Lexy kept for customers to use.

  “The portions are too small there.” Ida took a chocolate-frosted brownie from Cassie and headed toward the cafe table near the window.

  “That place is no competition for you.” Ruth patted Cassie’s hand as she took an almond scone. “You girls have nothing to worry about.”

  Lexy split a blonde brownie with Cassie and then sat at the table where the ladies were getting settled with their pastries and coffees. The ladies were right—that other bakery couldn’t hold a candle to the Cup and Cake, especially with its scenic view of the waterfall across the street and the planter boxes overflowing with flowers lined up on the bridge railing. Lexy had been lucky to get this spot and even luckier to be able to put her cafe tables at the window and outside on the wide sidewalk that overlooked the falls.

  Lexy picked at the blondie as she watched Nans put the lemon square and molasses cookies she’d gotten from Cassie next to the ones she’d bought at the Confection Connection.

  “These are much smaller than Lexy’s.” Pride swelled in Lexy’s chest as Nans pointed to the Confection Connection pastries, which were about half the size of hers.

  “They’re puny! And the cookie doesn’t look as moist.” Helen sank her fork through the thick layer of frosting and into the red velvet cake.

  “I bet the lemon is tart.” Ruth made a sour face.

  “I’ll take one for the team and taste-test it.” Ida grabbed the lemon square, put it in her mouth, and made a big show of chewing while making sour faces. “Yep, too tart.”

  The bells jangled, and Jack walked in.

  “Hey. I was hoping to find you all here.” He gave Lexy a quick peck on the cheek before continuing on to the coffee carafes. “I’m just picking up some coffees to go for me and John.”

  John Darling was Jack’s partner and also Cassie’s husband. Cassie waved to Jack from behind the counter, where she was rearranging the muffins on the muffin rack. “Hi, Jack! Give John a kiss for me.”

  Jack smiled. “I think I’ll let you do that. Wouldn’t want to give him ideas.”

  Nans spun around in her seat to face Jack. “It’s so great to see you, Jack. I hardly ever see you anymore. And you haven’t asked us to consult on any cases.”

  Jack put the lid on one paper cup and then started filling the second. “I miss you too, Mona. Maybe you should have us for dinner.”

  Nans turned back to the table and fluffed a napkin in her lap. “Speaking of dinner, I do have a batch of homemade ravioli in my fridge for you, which I’d be willing to trade for a consultant gig or maybe some information on the Maguire case.”

  “Ravioli? Cheese, mushroom, or spinach?” Jack asked. Nans’s homemade ravioli were one of Jack’s favorite meals.

  “Cheese. Just the way you like them.”

  Jack placed the lid on the second cup and came to stand next to their table. “We don’t really have a need to hire on consultants right now, but I did discover something interesting about the Maguire case that I can share.”

  Nans’s brows shot up. “Do tell.”

  “Have you considered that Henry Maguire might actually be the killer?” Jack asked.

  “Of course. That is one of the possibilities we are investigating,” Nans said. “But don’t you agree that evidence is flimsy? And Muriel said he was such a good boy.”

  Jack gave her an indulgent smile. “Grandmas always think their grandsons are good, so I don’t think we can really take that into account officially.”

  “I guess not.” Nans bit into the Cup and Cake lemon square. Lexy noticed that Ida had managed to devour the one they’d brought from the Confection Connection and was now wrapping part of her brownie in a napkin.

  “What makes you think he did it?” Lexy asked. “You sound like you have new information that might render the evidence we know about not so flimsy.”

  Jack signed. “Well, I’m not aware of all the evidence since our department didn’t investigate, so I can’t say if it’s flimsy or not. I did put some feelers out, and Henry’s alibi is definitely sketchy. There’s no one to corroborate that he was driving around after he left the hospital, and he would have had just enough time to rush home and murder his wife.”

  Nans made a face. “That doesn’t sound like enough to convict him.”

  “Of course it isn’t. I’m sure they have more over at the New Ipswich police department, or they wouldn’t have arrested him. I’m trying to get more information on the case without ruffling any feathers, but just keep in mind that Henry might not be the good little boy that Muriel thinks he is. Seems he was picked up on a loitering charge a few months back.”

  “Loitering? Where?” Lexy asked.

  “Under the bridge by the train track. It’s policed pretty heavily since vagrants and drug users are known to hang out there,” Jack said.

  “Hmmm… well, that does complicate things.” Nans chewed a bite of her molasses cookie thoughtfully.

  “There might be more. I’ve got my feelers out, but for now I think you should proceed with caution.” Jack looked down at Lexy.

  “We always do.” Lexy smiled up at him.

  Jack nodded and started toward the door. “At least if Henry is the killer, he’s no threat to you locked up behind bars.”

  Once Jack was out the door and safely out of earshot, Nans looked at them over the rim of her coffee mug. “And if he’s not the killer and some
one wants the police to keep thinking that he is, then that person could be a very dangerous threat indeed.”

  Chapter 8

  “Come on up and I’ll give you those homemade ravioli for Jack,” Nans said as Lexy dropped them off at the Brook Ridge Falls Retirement Center later that afternoon. Lexy didn’t really have a lot of time to linger, as she had a lot of work to catch up on back at the Cup and Cake, but she supposed it wouldn’t hurt to run up and grab the ravioli. Besides, it would make Jack happy, and when Jack was happy, Lexy was happy.

  “I’m not convinced Henry is the killer,” Helen said as she inspected the signs on the lawn to make sure Mario didn’t mess with them. “You ask me, Mario is behind this.”

  Ruth tsked. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”

  Helen turned to her. “Don’t tell me you have a crush on him. He’s nasty.”

  Ruth rankled. “Just because he’s your competition, doesn’t make him a killer. What would his motive be?”

  “Ladies!” Nans stood with her hands on her hips. “We’re not very far into the case. We have nothing conclusive so far, so let’s not make assumptions.”

  “Uh oh…” Ida’s eyes were on something behind Lexy. Lexy turned to see Mario and Endora coming up the sidewalk.

  Helen’s eyes narrowed on Mario. “If he wants a fight, I’ll give him a fight.”

  Nans held her hand out in front of Helen. “Now, hold on. He’s probably just walking up the sidewalk.”

  Mario stopped in front of them, glaring first at Nans then at Helen. “Just what, exactly, are you people up to?”

  “What do you mean? We’re going into the building.” Ida stepped up to Mario and straightened as if to try to make herself taller. She was just a tad over five feet, so it didn’t really accomplish much. “It’s a public sidewalk.”

  “Not that,” Endora said in her grating voice. “We saw you at the Confection Connection. You’re following us.”