Creamed at the Coffee Cabana: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Home Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) (3 page)

Chapter Five

My aunts and I sat outside the Coffee Cabana in our lawn chairs waiting for Officer Eli Davis to question us. The Barton’s left for the festival, but Harvey and Toe waited with us. Turns out someone whacked Francine Diddlemier with Aunt Essie’s new iron skillet sometime during the parade. It had to be during that time since it was the only window of opportunity. Of course, there were many questions the police would want answered, like what was Fannie doing in the Coffee Cabana? We could all answer that one…snooping for info for her weekly rag.

As we sat waiting, our group discussed what might have happened and Essie mourned her new iron skillet. “Figures…even in death she’s stickin it to me.” Ahhh, my Aunt Essie had her priorities straight.

“Essie, the woman is dead,” Hildie admonished.

“I’m well aware of that fact Hildie,” Essie huffed. “And someone used my new iron skillet to perform the deed.”

“What do you think she was doing back there to begin with?” Harvey asked.

Essie pulled a paper accordion fan from her Coffee Cabana apron pocket and began fanning herself. “Isn’t it obvious? She was looking for intel.”

“Intel?” Harvey wasn’t the quickest on the uptake. And my aunt Essie didn’t have the patience of a saint either.

“You know how she’s always snooping through people’s trash or whatnot to get info for her paper. That’s probably why she was in there, looking for some little tidbit she could use against me in her paper.”

“Like your grey hair dye?” Hildie asked. Now why did she want to pour more fuel on that fire?

“I wish people would stop talking about my hair!” Essie barked. And with that, Officer Davis, Harvey’s son, walked out the front door of the shop.

He was wearing his dark blue police officer’s uniform, which looked freshly pressed. One thing I had to give him credit for, he always looked fine, right down to his polished shoes.

Before he could ask us anything, Essie piped up.

“Eli, is she gone? What about my skillet?” Again with the skillet!

“Yes…we removed the body using the back door next to the alley. And yes, we took the skillet since it may be the murder weapon. We’ll know more after the forensic team goes over it.”

Essie sulked. “Why did someone have to use my new skillet?”

Eli gave her a funny look then turned to me. “Lily, do you have any idea why Francine would be in your store?”

“You know how she is,” I answered. “We’ve been discussing it and figure she was conducting her usual snooping.”

Eli shifted. “Seems a little brash to come right into your shop though.” What was he getting at?

“Not necessarily,” Aunt Hildie piped in. “You would see her going through other people’s trash.”

“But that’s outside the residence,” Eli offered. “This seems a little bolder than her normal snooping routine.”

I threw up my hands. “Who knows? Maybe she decided to step up her game.” I was getting irritated. It seemed he was trying to lay blame on my aunts and me since Fannie was found dead in our shop.

“Son, I don’t think it’s at all unusual for Fannie to be snooping around in the shop.” I was glad Harvey was speaking up. “Essie and Fannie have had a volatile relationship for over 30 years.” Well, maybe I wasn’t so glad. Essie shot him a death look. Of course it didn’t register with poor Harvey.

“I’m afraid Fannie saw an opportunity with all of us watching the parade and decided to make the most of the situation by sneaking into the back of the shop.”

Eli turned to look at us. “Did any of you go back into the shop during the parade?”

I looked at Essie. I knew she had excused herself for a minute to go grab a bottle of water out of the fridge in the back.

“Yes I did,” Essie answered. “I ran back inside to grab a bottled water, but I didn’t see anything.”

Eli took a notepad and pen from his pocket. “And what time was that?”

Essie scrunched her face. “I’m not sure…it was about 10 minutes into the parade though.”

The parade lasted approximately 40 minutes. Essie gets her bottled water at the 10-minute mark. Still plenty of time for someone else to perform the murder.

“You need to find out the time frame for Fannie,” I said. “Where she was at a certain time and who she was with. Wait, wasn’t Gladys with her earlier?”

“That’s right,” Hildie replied. “Fannie and Gladys came into the shop earlier today. Fannie was going on about the special edition of her paper she was going to hand out for free today at the festival.”

“That’s who you need to talk to,” I offered. “Find Gladys.”

Eli closed his notebook. “Thank you all for your help. If you think of anything else, please let us know.”

“When can we get back into our shop?” I asked.

“It may be a few days Lily,” Eli answered. “We have to let the forensic crew get done with their work.” Eli excused himself and walked back into the shop.

“Well, nothing we can do now,” Essie replied. “Might as well head up to the festival.”

“Doesn’t it bother you that there’s a murderer in our midst?” Hildie asked.

“Of course it does,” Essie answered. “But look…Fannie made a lot of enemies. You might as well say she made her bed.”

“Yes, but she didn’t deserve this!”

“I didn’t say she deserved it. But when you play with people’s lives, especially their livelihood, you may get burned.”

We all turned to look at Toe. “Don’t look at me. I didn’t care for the woman, but I’m not going to chuck her in the head with an iron skillet.”

Essie waved her hand. “No one thinks it was you Toe. But I wonder about Mike Barton?”

I straightened up in my lawn chair. “Why do you say that?”

“I was sitting by him and his wife during the parade. You all were on the other side of me. After I got back with my water, I noticed his chair was empty. I asked Meghan where he went and she said he had to take a phone call and couldn’t hear because of the bands.”

“Mike’s an upstanding guy…no way he’d do this,” Hildie offered.

“I’m not saying he did, I’m just putting the information out there.”

It was interesting. Mike leaves around the same time Fannie is killed. Of course, if he did make a phone call, then the person on the other end could corroborate his claim of talking on the phone.

“I saw the boy leave too,” Toe replied.

“You mean Trevor, their son?” Hildie asked.

“Yes, he sneaked off when the second band came through.”

“How did you see that?” Essie asked. “You were sitting clear on the other end.”

“I walked over to talk to Red Johnson. Wanted to see how the new electric box I installed was working for him. I noticed the boy sneak away about that time.”

The second band came midway through the parade, which would make it around the 20-minute mark. Good grief, surely a young teenager wouldn’t have done this.

“I bet he texted some friends and snuck off to meet them,” I said. “I’m sure teenagers are bored by parades.”

“I tend to agree with you,” Toe said. “I don’t think the boy had anything to do with it, but just thought I’d toss it in there.”

Hildie stood up. “Well I for one am weary of this talk. Let’s try and make the best of it and go to the festival.”

We all agreed. There was nothing we could do about the unfortunate circumstances. Fannie had evidently wronged someone who didn’t like what she dished out on a regular basis. This could be a person she’d taken to task in her paper recently, or someone whose anger built over time and finally erupted. Only time would tell, but the fact that it happened in our coffee shop didn’t make me feel very comfortable. Was it a crime of opportunity or was someone sending my aunts and me a message?

Chapter Six

The festival came and went. Talk of the town, of course, was the gruesome crime committed in our coffee shop. Many people I came in contact with didn’t offer much sympathy for Fannie and her demise. She harmed many people in Sweet Home and even if you weren’t one of the poor souls mentioned in her paper, you were likely related to someone who was. In some ways, this could put a damper on the investigation into her murder with so many suspects. However, time and opportunity to perform the crime was imperative.

Most of the town was watching the parade, but people could have slipped away without anyone noticing. Maybe someone saw Fannie slip into the coffee shop and decided to confront her about the so-called special edition. She never had a chance to pass them out, but Harvey said Eli told him they had confiscated copies from Fannie‘s golf cart. Could be someone got a gander at the paper and didn’t like what he or she read?

There was also Gladys. She’d been with Fannie earlier, but she told the police and everyone else at the festival that she and Francine parted ways after they left the Coffee Cabana. I wasn’t sure if I believed her, but at this point, there was nothing leading to the contrary. Someone mentioned to Hildie that she saw Mildred wandering around the festival looking forlorn. That’s not so odd since she and Fannie were friends.

By Sunday, the police released the crime scene and we got to work scrubbing the place so we could open on Monday as usual. That Monday morning I stuck my head in the door after unlocking it. The day before when cleaning the place with my aunts I was fine, but this morning, being all alone, the place creeped me out. I looked at where we found Fannie lying, next to the stove with the iron skillet atop her head. Suddenly one of the coffee cups from the shelf fell and hit the floor, splintering into pieces. I jumped and screamed at the same time, my hand going for my chest. Once my heart stopped hammering in my ears I walked over to clean up the mess.

Evidently, with all the cleaning and moving around one of the coffee cups moved to close to the edge of the shelf. At least that’s the only plausible excuse I could come up with. Of course that had to be after we washed them and that was the last thing we did yesterday…wash, dry and place cups and dishes on the shelves. I decided not to dwell on the matter and went and grabbed a broom and a dustpan. As I bent over to sweep up the remnants of the coffee cup, something shiny caught my eye. There was something wedged between the stove and the cabinet. I tried sticking the broom between the stove and cabinet but it was too thick. I looked around the room and spotted a yardstick that said Stone Insurance Company. The local business had a booth at the festival and was giving them away. I remember Hildie grabbing all the free stuff she could. She must have brought it here yesterday when we were cleaning. Not sure what she was going to use it for at the shop, but it was coming in handy now.

I grabbed the yardstick and pushed it under the stove trying not to push the shiny object back any farther. Finally, I used the yardstick to push the item out. I picked it up. It was a button, but not just any old button. This looked to be vintage or antique. It was metal with a gold finish. The design was of a daisy. Now I knew my aunts didn’t have any type of clothing that would have antique buttons on it, and we were the only ones normally back here. Well, except for Fannie and whoever killed her. At first I was surprised the police didn’t see it, but then I wouldn’t have either except for the light shining on it right when I bent over to sweep up the coffee cup shards. I put the button in my pocket and cleaned up the rest of the mess. By that time I heard my aunts coming in the front door of the shop.

My aunts brought their usual baked goodies and the aroma was uplifting. We were inundated with customers that first day. I suppose people have this morbid curiosity of being in a place where a ghastly crime was committed. They had better watch it…I could easily see Fannie’s ghost coming back to haunt us all.

After the hustle and bustle of the morning crowd, Harvey and Toe meandered in. I hadn’t had a chance to tell my aunts about the button I found so I decided now was as good a time as any.

Hildie took Toe and Harvey their usual order and I cornered Essie. “Look what I found between the stove and cabinet this morning,” I whispered.

She took the button and studied it. “This looks familiar, but it isn’t mine or Hildie’s. But I have seen it before.”

Hildie walked up and peered over Essie’s shoulder. “What have we got here?”

“Do you recognize it?” Essie asked as she handed it to Hildie.

“I’ve seen it before…where did you find it?”

I pointed towards the back room. “I found it wedged between the stove and the cabinet. If it’s not your’s or Essie’s, then it may be the killer’s.”

Hildie rolled the button in her fingers as she stared at it. “Could it have been Fannie’s?”

Essie harrumphed. “When did you ever see Fannie wearing something this vintage? I don’t think this came from her wardrobe.”

“I recognize it!” Toe replied. We all jumped not seeing him and Harvey walking up to the counter.

Essie stood holding her hand to her chest. “Lord Toe, you almost gave me a heart attack.”

“I had one of those…wasn’t that bad,” Harvey informed us.

Essie gave him one of her ‘not amused’ looks then turned to Toe.

“You’ve seen this button before? Where?”

“On Mildred’s jacket. That blue one she wears sometimes.”

Essie looked at him incredulously. “How the heck do you know that?”

Toe shrugged. “We’ve went out a few times.”

Well you could have knocked my aunts over with a feather, especially Essie. She stood with her mouth open and Hildie’s eyes were as big as saucers. Guess they never thought of Toe as the dating type. He’d been a lifelong bachelor and evidently kept his love quests under wraps…until now.

Finally, Essie found her voice. “You dated Mildred?” It was as if she couldn’t wrap her brain around the notion.

Toe set his empty coffee cup on the counter. “Yep…Lily could I get some more coffee?”

“Coming right up.” I loved it. I do believe my aunt Essie was jealous.

“When? How come I never heard about it?” Essie was mad because she wasn’t kept in the loop over Toe’s love life? Ohhh, I couldn’t wait to tease her.

“I didn’t know I needed to report my dating calendar to you,” Toe replied as he took a sip of his coffee.

Essie seemed to realize how she was coming across and deftly changed the subject. She shook her head and held the button up again as we all looked at it. It was as if we were entranced with the small object. People looking through the window of our shop might have thought we were having a séance. We were so mesmerized we didn’t notice someone walk into the store and right up to us.

“Whatcha lookin at?” We all jumped again! Except for Harvey. Nothing seemed to shock that old man.

Essie grabbed her head this time. “I swear you all are trying to kill me!”

After making sure my heart was still pumping, I ran around the counter to give my best friend Jules a hug. She had been gone for two weeks to see her parents who lived in Miami. I was so glad she was back.

“How was your trip?” I asked.

“It was great, but I’m glad to be home.” Jules sat down at one of the stools next to the counter.

“So what’s the latest on Francine’s murder?”

I had talked to Jules on the phone while she was in Miami and told her the news. While she thought it dastardly that someone would kill Fannie, she, like the rest of us, wasn’t too surprised given her nature to backstab as many people as possible.

We showed her the button and where it was found in the back room.

“You know I’ve seen this button before too. I agree with Toe…Mildred has a lightweight jacket that has these buttons. They stand out, unlike normal buttons. Are you going to give it to the police?”

We looked at Harvey. “Just because my son is a police officer doesn’t mean I’m going to rat you girls out.”

Well, I doubt he would on purpose but knowing Harvey, it would slip out sooner than later.

“I will, but I’d like to talk to Mildred first.”

“Ah yes, let’s talk to Mildred,” Essie cooed. She was enjoying this way too much.

“I don’t know,” Hildie interjected. “Maybe we shouldn’t play detective. This is serious business.”

Essie rolled her eyes. “Where’s your adventurous spirit Hildie?”

“Locked away safe and sound so I don’t end up in the hoosegow.”

“Who says we’re doing anything against the law?” I asked, although I knew the answer.

“You’re withholding evidence!” Hildie crowed. My aunts loved watching crime shows and I had to admit, so did I. Dang it!

“Only for a little while,” I replied. “Wouldn’t it be better for us to chat with Mildred first than to give this button to the police and have her hauled down to the police station? At least this way she won‘t be caught unaware and scared half to death.”

Jules sat with her head in her hands. “Or give her a chance to come up with an alibi.”

Jules you’re supposed to be helping me here. “But she can’t come up with an alibi if her button was found here.”

Jules nodded. “Let’s give her a call and have her come in.”

“We can’t all be here though,” I said. “She’ll clam up tight.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Essie huffed. “I want to know what her button was doing here in our shop.”

“Fine, I’ll leave,” Hildie announced pulling off her apron. “You men can come with me. I need to get some items at the hardware store and I need your advice.”

Toe and Harvey were happy to go with Hildie. They loved sitting outside the hardware store on one of the city’s benches, drink soda pop, and people watching.

After they left Essie called Mildred and told her we found something that may belong to her. She wanted to know what it was and Essie told her. Essie said her tune shifted from friendly to guarded immediately. She told Essie she’d be right over. While waiting Essie and I served a few customers and chatted with Jules about her parents and her trip to Miami. Not 15 minutes later, Mildred rushed into the Coffee Cabana.

Essie and I took her into the back while Jules stayed out front to take care of the customers. I took the button out of my pocket and showed it to Mildred.

“So is this your button?” I asked.

Mildred tried to take it from me but I pulled it back.

“Well I have to look at it.”

“You can see it from here,” I answered. “What do you think?”

Mildred hesitated. “Where did you find it?”

I pointed between the stove and cabinet. “It was wedged in there.”

Mildred nodded her head.

Essie walked up beside Mildred. “I don’t remember you ever being back here - but this button says otherwise.”

Easy there Aunt Essie. I didn’t want to scare her away. Just nudge her gently.

“You can tell us Mildred. We all know how Fannie was.”

Tears welled in Mildred’s eyes. I pulled a stool over and had her sit down.

“I thought she was my friend. We’d been pals since grade school. Then I learned she put something in her special edition paper about me. It wasn’t a big deal, but hurtful all the same.”

“What did she say,” Essie asked.

“She said that a certain red haired lady in town was sweet on a lifelong bachelor in town.”

I looked at Essie. She was getting it from all angles today. “You and Toe?”