Ain't Seen Muffin Yet (Lexy Baker Cozy Mystery Series Book 15) Page 6

  A large grandfather clock in the corner chimed, making them all jump. Ten o’clock. Luckily, the house appeared empty. The last thing Lexy wanted was to have the police summoned and have Jack arrest her for being a Peeping Tom!

  On the table, gold linen napkins sat next to settings of fine china. Cut crystal glasses sparkled near sterling silver flatware.

  The sideboard was filled with serving dishes. A three-tiered platter held pastries. Lexy squinted to get a better look. Had those come from her bakery? She spied the bakery box on the hardwood floor beside the server. Not hers—hers had a pink cup on the top, and this one had a blue bee. “I guess they don’t have good taste. The baked goods came from another bakery.”

  “Shameful.” Ida shook her head.

  “I don’t see anything shady in there,” Nans said to Helen.

  “Look closer. There’s got to be something,” Helen said. “Look at all the stuff he has. Is that real gold? And what about that china? It looks like those Limoges could be worth a lot.”

  “So? None of this means he is doing something shady with the election,” Ruth said.

  Helen glared at her. “He is. You saw him move my signs. You’re just making excuses because you have a—”

  Thwack!

  A knife quivered in the window trim right next to Helen’s head, and they turned to see Rosa’s cousin glaring at them with flat dark eyes.

  “You people are trespassing.”

  Ida fisted her hands on her hips. “Who are you?”

  “William Blondini. This is my uncle’s place.” His gaze shifted to Helen, his eyes narrowing. “I know who you are. You’re the lady running against my uncle. What are you doing peeking in his windows?”

  “We weren’t peeking in any windows.” Ruth held up the bag of books in her hand. “We were dropping off a book.”

  “A book?” William didn’t look convinced. “Then why are you skulking out back?”

  “We usually drop them off on the back porch. It’s a thing.” Ruth plucked a book out of the bag and trotted over to the deck, putting the book onto a chair. She turned and looked at William. “See?”

  “I think you were spying.” William reached past Helen, causing her to shrink back. He pulled the knife out of the wood, looking at the blade as it glinted in the light. Helen scuttled away from him.

  He gave her a sinister smile. “Don’t worry… if I wanted to hit you, I would have. I have perfect aim, you know.”

  “That’s very nice,” Nans said. “I bet that comes in handy with the circus show. Now, we’ve delivered the book and must be on our way.” She started off toward the street.

  “Toodles,” Ida said, falling in step behind Nans.

  “Nice meeting you.” Ruth hurried past him to catch up with Nans.

  Lexy pushed Helen in front of her and brought up the rear.

  “You ladies better be careful. Leave my uncle alone. And mind your own business if you know what’s good for you. I’ll be watching.”

  Lexy looked over her shoulder at William, who was flicking the knife back and forth in his hands. She suppressed a shudder and hurried to the street. Suddenly, the visit to the jail and talking to felons seemed mild compared to a knife-throwing Blondini.

  Chapter 12

  Lexy hemmed and hawed about actually going into the prison, but in the end, the ladies’ advice about how they were simply donating books won out. The clincher was when Ruth shoved the bag of books into Lexy’s hand and claimed it was too heavy for any of them to carry, so if Jack found out, she could simply say she was just saving them from ruining their backs. Lexy felt a little guilty about it, but she also wanted to hear what Henry had to say for herself, if they even got a chance to talk to him.

  Inside the lobby, Nans marched up to the guard in the reception area. “We’re from the Ladies Auxiliary with the book donation.”

  The guard, a white-haired man who looked like he was more interested in retiring than processing visitors, gave her a confused look. “Book donation? What’s that about?”

  Lexy opened the bag and tipped it toward him so he could see inside.

  “It’s a new program. We’re supposed to deliver them. You need books for the library, don’t you?” Nans asked.

  His expression turned dubious. “I don’t know anything about a book donation.”

  “Well, I don’t think Greta down at the town hall will be happy about that,” Ruth huffed. “You know how she hates it when someone drops the ball.” Ruth looked pointedly at the guard. “And someone has surely dropped the ball here.”

  Ruth seemed to have contacts everywhere, and apparently, Greta was one of them. Lexy wasn’t sure who Greta was, but the guard certainly did. Just the mention of her name had instilled a look of fear in his eye.

  “This is one of Greta’s programs?” he asked.

  Ruth whipped out her phone. “It sure is. Let me call her and find out what the problem is. What did you say your name is?”

  The guard stood. “No need to call. We can always use books. I’ll just have Jimmy escort you.”

  Ruth smiled and tucked her phone back into her large purse as the guard pressed the buzzer and the door clicked open.

  Jimmy met them on the other side of the door. He had short cropped hair and was wearing a starched green uniform. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, and his demeanor was quite serious.

  “Take them to the library and wait to escort them back,” the desk guard instructed.

  Jimmy nodded at him. “Follow me.” He spun around and started down the hall.

  They were silent as they followed him to the common area adjacent to the library. Jimmy opened the door and gestured for them to go inside. Then he took up his station next to the door, and Lexy and the ladies headed toward the small room where the books were kept.

  The area itself wasn’t much to write home about. It was utilitarian with long tables and plastic chairs. There were no windows, but the overhead lighting was bright. The flooring was the same green and gray tile as the lobby. Lexy supposed it was better than sitting in a jail cell. One inmate was sitting at a desk using a computer. Another was reading in a chair. The good news was that Henry sat in front of a chess set at a small table in the corner.

  “Ruth! I guess you must have missed me!” Vinny came through the door, wheeling the library cart.

  “Hi, Vinny. We brought some books to donate to the library.” Ruth gestured toward Lexy’s bag.

  Vinny looked inside the bag. “That’s great. Looks like some good ones in there. Come into the office, and I’ll log them in.”

  They followed him to a small room in the corner and squeezed inside. The room was neat as a pin. Apparently, there was no clutter in prison. An old computer sat on a desk, and Vinny sat down in front of it. He slipped on a pair of half-moon reading glasses and typed a few keys. The screen went wonky, and he gave it a whack, returning it to normal.

  He grabbed a book from the bag. “Now, let me see. Oh! No Scone Unturned by Leighann Dobbs. That’s one of my favorites.”

  He pecked at the keys with two fingers, taking a full five minutes to put in just the title. Ida fidgeted. Nans sighed. Helen glanced out into the other room as if looking for potential voters.

  Ruth cleared her throat. “Say, Vinny, I was wondering about that heist. The one that put you in here.”

  Vinny scowled over his reading glasses at her. “Yeah. That was a bum deal.”

  “I heard that it was quite a mystery how you got inside,” Ruth said.

  Vinny smiled. “Yeah, it was clever. No regular robbers could have pulled that off. See, they had an alarm system with laser beams, and you had to have a lot of skills to duck under and over. Would be impossible for most people.”

  Ruth leaned her hip against the desk and lowered her voice. “But not for an acrobat.”

  Vinny glanced over his shoulder. “Hey, I didn’t say that…”

  “Oh, I know,” Ruth made light of it. “But let’s say it did take a lot of gymnastics.
An acrobat would be perfect. And if there was a whole family of them, well… one of them could be the one who ratted you out.”

  Vinny’s eyebrows mashed together. “Yeah. The rat. I’d like to find that person. But if there were some acrobats involved.” He raised his brows at Ruth. “And I’m not saying there was. It wasn’t just about being able to do cartwheels. Someone had to plan out the whole thing. There was a mastermind behind the whole thing and that wasn’t necessarily someone out in the field.”

  Ruth raised her brows and looked out the doorway. Lexy turned to follow her gaze. It went straight to Henry Maguire.

  “Would that person have to know different strategies and be a big thinker?” Ruth asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll say.” Vinny started pecking at the keyboard again. “Because it wouldn’t be easy to figure out the timing. You’d need a precise strategy.”

  “Uh huh.” Ruth nodded at Nans and the ladies. “Well, I hope you enjoy the books. Nice seeing you.” She pushed away from the desk and headed out into the adjoining room.

  “Thanks for the books, ladies! Come back any time!” Vinny yelled as they made a beeline for Henry Maguire.

  Henry looked up at their approach. His eyes sparked with recognition then became guarded. Did Henry have something to hide?

  “Is something wrong with my grandmother?” Henry asked.

  “Oh no, dear. We were donating some books and saw you here and thought we’d say hello. Isn’t that right, girls?” Nans turned to Lexy and the ladies, and they all nodded.

  Henry let out a breath and relaxed back into the chair. “Oh, good. I knew you were friends with her since you came the other day and was afraid it was bad news when I saw you coming toward me without her.”

  “Nothing of the sort,” Helen said. “She’s fit as a fiddle.”

  “Muriel tells us you’re teaching some of the inmates how to play chess.” Ruth gestured toward the chess board. “You must spend a lot of time playing and thinking up strategy.”

  Henry fiddled with the chess piece he was holding in his hand—the king, Lexy assumed, by the size and crown on the top. “You could say that.”

  “You must be very smart,” Ida said.

  “My grandmother thinks so.” Henry tapped the chess piece on the table.

  “Yeah, knowing all those moves. Like which one goes forward and when to move them back,” Helen said.

  “And which ones go diagonal,” Ruth added.

  “What about the one that goes up two spaces and across one?” Ida frowned down at the board. “That one always confuses me.”

  “It’s not that hard. I could teach you sometime—if I ever get out of here, that is.” Henry stopped fiddling with the king. “Have you guys found anything out about my case? Gram told me you were looking into it.”

  Nans shuffled on her feet. “We’re looking into a few things. But it would help us out if you could answer a question.”

  “Okay.” Henry drew out the word as if he were hesitant.

  “A neighbor complained about you. I was wondering if you knew who that was.”

  Henry made a face. “Yeah, I know who it was. The old busybody in the apartment across the hall. Doris Pettigrew. She was wrong though. I never had anyone come to visit except other doctors.”

  “Are you sure?” Nans asked.

  Henry started fiddling with the king again. “Yes, I’m sure.”

  “Well, what about this scandal we heard about?” Ida’s question earned a sharp look from Nans. Apparently, Nans had been getting around to that in her own time, and Ida had jumped the gun.

  Henry’s eyes shuttered, and he glanced toward the guard at the door. “Scandal? I don’t know what you are talking about.”

  “We’re sure it’s nothing…” Nans tried to prompt him into explaining.

  “Ladies! Are you done with the books?” The guard was coming toward them from his position at the door. “No loitering here.”

  “Right, okay.”

  “No problem.”

  “I guess so. Nice talking to you Henry.”

  Henry went back to his chess game without giving them so much as a glance as they left.

  Chapter 13

  Doughy Delights was on the way home from the prison, so naturally, they headed there right away. The bakery was in an old mill building and featured antique oak bakery cases and creaky, wide pine flooring. Lexy supposed it was cute in a vintage sort of way. It had a coffee station and steel-and-oak tables with an industrial look. The smell of coffee and cookies permeated the air. Ida took a deep whiff and rushed to the bakery case.

  “At least these products are bigger than the Confection Connection.” Ida crouched down, pressing her face to the glass to get a good look at the bottom row.

  “Yeah, but let’s see how they taste.” Helen winked at Lexy.

  “Ladies, are you forgetting why we’re here?” Nans gestured toward another case, where rows of muffins were lined up waiting to be purchased. Bran muffins, blueberry, lemon-poppyseed and, yes, corn muffins all stood in straight rows. The corn muffins did not have sugar crystals on them.

  Nans moved over to the counter, and a baker in a white chef’s coat appeared from the back. “Can I help you?”

  Nans nodded toward the muffin case. “Your corn muffins look lovely, but do you have any with sugar crystals on top?”

  The baker shook his head and looked at Nans as if she needed to be educated. “No, ma’am, corn muffins are too textured already. Sugar crystals on top would create a bad experience for the palate.”

  “I see. So you never sell them like that?”

  “Certainly not. If you like sugar crystals on top, try the blueberry. They are much more delicate and refined. The added sweetness makes them pop!” He accentuated the word “pop” with a flourish of his hand.

  “Okay. I guess I’ll take one of those,” Nans said. “You don’t happen to know of another bakery that sells them with sugar crystals on top?”

  The baker stopped mid-package and looked up at Nans. “Another bakery? No, I do not go into other bakeries scouting out their wares.”

  Lexy cringed and tried not to blush. She wasn’t exactly scouting out the wares. They were on an investigation, but she still felt guilty. Though there was nothing wrong with scoping out the competition—big companies did it all the time.

  The ladies completed their orders: Ida with a cinnamon scone, Helen a strawberry muffin, Ruth a hermit, and Lexy a giant elephant ear that looked incredibly flaky and sweet with a tiny sprinkling of cinnamon.

  “I’ll help you eat that if you can’t finish it,” Ida said as they took their purchases to one of the tables.

  “I think I might need some help.” Lexy was serious—the thing was as big as both her hands put together.

  Lexy got settled in her seat and broke off half of the flaky pastry then passed it to Ida.

  Ida bit in and made yum-yum noises. The yum-yum noises were appropriate, Lexy discovered, as she dug into hers. It was flaky but not dry, and the sugar and cinnamon made her taste buds dance.

  “So, looks like we struck out again,” Ruth said.

  “Yeah. But we hit pay dirt with Henry.” Nans bit into her muffin. “Hmmm, this isn’t bad.”

  “This hermit is pretty good, too,” Ruth said then quickly added, “Not as good as yours, Lexy.”

  “Thanks.” Lexy broke off another piece of elephant ear. She had to admit this bakery wasn’t too bad. The pastries were very good, and it had ambiance. No sparkling waterfall across the street like the Cup and Cake, but it was still pleasant. “It sure seemed like Henry was hiding something. He clammed up as soon as you mentioned the scandal, and I think he lied about the neighbor’s complaint.”

  “What makes you say he lied?” Helen, who had cut her muffin in half then slathered a full pat of butter onto each side, asked.

  “He said the only people that came to visit him were doctors. Surely, the neighbor wouldn’t think they were unsavory,” Lexy said.

  “Ma
ybe or maybe not. And we aren’t sure the visitors were for him, either.” Nans sipped her coffee.

  “You mean they could have been visiting the wife?” Ida spread a napkin out in front of her and plunked her cinnamon scone in the middle then wrapped it up and shoved it in her purse.

  Nans nodded. “Yes. And maybe that is a clue to the identity of her killer.”

  “Or maybe Henry is the killer, and that’s why he’s lying,” Ida said.

  “Could be,” Nans replied.

  “Or maybe Mario or one of his crew is the killer.” Helen took the last bite of her hermit.

  “You really are after him, aren’t you?” Ruth asked. “Just because he’s running against you is no reason to malign the man.”

  “It’s not that. I think her murder might have something to do with the Broadmoore heist. Vinny admitted acrobats were involved, and the Blondinis are part of the Circo Acrobata. One of them has already ratted out Vinny. Maybe Rosa was the rat and was planning on ratting out more people and got killed for it.”

  “Or maybe Rosa knew who the rat was and that’s why she was killed.”

  Ruth shook her head. “I think you are jumping to conclusions. None of this implicates Mario.”

  Helen balled up her napkin and shoved it in her empty paper coffee cup. “It seems quite obvious to me!”

  Nans pushed up from the table. “Ladies, no fighting. We have more clues to collect before we can start making assumptions.”

  “And let’s not forget Henry.” Lexy remembered how fidgety he was with those chess pieces. “He could be involved. Plus, he benefitted from her life insurance.”

  “Oh, I haven’t crossed him off my list. But we must investigate all angles,” Nans said. “Speaking of which… Lexy, do you have time to drive over to Henry’s apartment building? Doris Pettigrew should be easy to find. Henry said she lived right across the hall.”