Mistletoe is Murder : A Christmas Cozy Mystery (Bee's Bakehouse Mysteries Book 6) Page 9

  This is good, Jessie thought. She’s visibly relaxing. Maybe talking about food is helpful. “Go on,” she whispered.

  “Then I…” she stopped and frowned. “Oh, the cranberry sauce. I got started on that. And then… I checked email. Too bad Clintock didn’t email earlier or else I might have got the supply issue out of the way before the party and this whole mess wouldn’t have happened.”

  Jessie looked at the chief.

  Lottie sighed. “Then the stove bust. I couldn’t believe it. I knew I should have stayed on the safe side and cooked the stuffing separately, but I wanted to make it exactly the way my mom used to. It had hours to go! So I panicked and wrapped it up in all the foil I had and put it carefully on a blanket in the back of my car. Then I came to the café.”

  “Who was there?” the chief asked.

  Lottie shook her head. “Jessie, I guess. And Bee.”

  Jessie nodded. “She rushed in the door carrying this huge tray of turkey. I have no idea how she managed to carry it.”

  Lottie smiled, embarrassed. “I bet. Typical that it happens when an entire party is depending on me. So yeah. I got to the café. Martin, Lainey and Claudia were there helping with prep. Jessie and Tania were setting up. Everyone was rushing around, busy like crazy. The place was like a sauna.

  There was no room in the oven for such a big bird, so we left and went to Lindemann’s. I stayed there chatting to Freddie, Jessie, as you know. Jessie was worried about the prep so she rushed back to the café. Freddie told me he’d take care of it—gentleman that he is—but they were so busy in the restaurant and I didn’t want to impose. Plus I’d never have been able to forgive myself if it wasn’t cooked properly and I gave everybody food poisoning. So I stayed and checked it every half hour. Meantime I helped the chefs with their prep. Chatted to the guys. I supply their kitchens so I know them quite well. It was finally ready just over an hour before your guests were due to arrive so I hurried back to the café.”

  Jessie nodded. She vaguely remembered Lottie coming back and the relief she felt that the event wasn’t going to be a disaster.

  “Then I went home,” Lottie continued. “My plan was to get the ordering done and get ready, but you know what happened then. That email from Ray Clintock arrived and it couldn’t wait. I needed to make him see it wasn’t acceptable.”

  “And then?” the chief probed.

  Lottie shrugged. “I finished the call and left. And that’s when I saw you two in the kitchen. I knew immediately that something was up.” She shook her head bitterly. “I couldn’t have imagined what was about to happen.”

  “No,” Chief Daly said, scribbling something in his notebook. “I can imagine you didn’t.” He glanced back over his notes. “Okay. Try and think back, Lottie. You mentioned that you received an email from the supplier. Were you having problems with them? Anything you might have mentioned to somebody in Springdale?

  Lottie shook her head decisively.

  “You’re sure?” he asked, seeming surprised. “It’s just you didn’t seem sure about the rest of events—why this?”

  Lottie looked surprised in turn. “Because it’s business. I don’t discuss my business with anybody except my accountant. And this wasn’t exactly something I wanted to share, was it? The possibility that my Christmas turkey order wasn’t coming? People were depending on me.”

  Chief Daly shook his head. “No, I can see what you mean. That’s likely to have angered some people.”

  Jessie knew he was talking about himself. She understood—it wasn’t like there was an option in Springdale to just drive to the nearest big store and pick up a frozen bird. That’s all sorted now?”

  Lottie nodded, frowning. “That’s the strange thing. When I got on the phone to them, Ray Clintock swore blind that they never sent me that email. In fact, far from being apologetic, he sounded highly offended. Wondered how I could possibly doubt his business practices.”

  Jessie’s eyes widened—they felt like the size of saucers. “What? Lottie, are you kidding?”

  Her friend shook her head. “No. I wish I was. Very odd. Of course with everything that happened after, I forget all about it, but you can rest assured I’ll be finding a different supplier for next year.”

  Jessie looked at the chief. Judging from the grave expression on his face he was as alarmed as she was.

  Chapter 21

  “What a pleasant surprise,” the wiry man said as Chief Daly flashed his ID. “I’m Ray Clintock. I believe we spoke on the phone.”

  The chief nodded, clearly in no mood to engage in small talk. “Can we come in? I’d like to speak to you.”

  “Sure,” Ray said, standing aside to let them in.

  Clintock’s was based in an industrial lot on the outskirts of Glenvale. The entire neighborhood was made up of unremarkable lots just like it.

  “You don’t rear your turkeys here, do you?” Jessie asked warily, looking around at the industrial neighborhood. She couldn’t see a bit of greenspace for all the concrete.

  “Of course not,” Ray said, laughing even though his face was stony. “No, we have a farm about ten miles away. Those suckers run wild and free. Most of them have a better life than me.” He laughed half-heartedly, but stopped as soon as he saw Chief Daly and Jessie weren’t joining in.

  “Is there someplace we can speak?” the chief asked quietly. The door from the outside had led them straight into a small open-plan office.

  “Sure,” Ray said, leading them through the narrow gap between cubicles to a spacious office on the other side. He led them inside and closed the door. “Now, what can I do you for? I apologize in advance if I get called away—this is one of our busiest times, as I’m sure you can understand.”

  “I’ll get right down to it, then,” Chief Daly said, taking a seat and pulling out his notepad. “How would you describe your relationship with Lottie Benson?”

  Ray rubbed his face and leaned back in his executive chair.

  “Mr. Clintock? Something I should know?” the chief flicked back several pages in his notebook. “If I recall correctly, the last time we spoke you described her as crazy?”

  Ray nodded and swallowed hard. “I don’t like to speak that way about anybody. But… I believe that was justified. We had a good working relationship until last week when she called me up and verbally attacked me. If we’d been meeting in person then I would have been genuinely in fear of my life.”

  Jessie looked him up and down. Sure, it was true that Lottie had a temper, but it was all bark and no bite—or so Jessie had always thought. Was he exaggerating or telling the truth? And why would he feel the need to exaggerate? She kept her thoughts to herself.

  “Indeed, Mr. Clintock. Tell us about that. It wasn’t relevant the last time we spoke, but I’d like to explore that now.”

  Ray Clintock nodded and rubbed his face. There was a smattering of stubble on his jaw, like he hadn’t shaved that morning. “Yeah. Okay. So she called me up. Started accusing me of going back on my word. I couldn’t get any sense out of her. She was hysterical. I couldn’t understand it.”

  “She said she received an email from you earlier that day,” the chief said carefully. “Is that correct?”

  Ray nodded. “Yes, that’s right.”

  “Care to tell us the contents?”

  “Sure. I can’t remember exactly because it was something our PR guy came up with. ‘Blah blah blah thank you for your custom. Your holiday order will be on its way soon and we’ll enclose something special for your festive season.’ You know—the usual corporate shtick.”

  Jessie shook her head. “That’s not the way your message was described to us.”

  “No? Well she must have got her wires crossed because that’s what it said.”

  Chief Daly nodded. “So we’ll be able to look at your outbox and verify. May I?”

  Ray Clintock fidgeted and pulled his computer screen so it was no longer visible to Jessie and the chief. The muscles in his jaw were twitching.<
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  “It would help us greatly to see the email from your side. To match to the one Lottie received.”

  “She’s the crazy one,” Ray snapped. “It’s that simple.”

  Jessie looked away discreetly. There wasn’t a lot she could do if the man didn’t cooperate. Chief Daly, on the other hand… She snuck a glance at him. He looked supremely unconcerned.

  What does this guy have to hide? Jessie wondered. Her eyes widened. Did he lure her out here? And now he’s changing his story?

  “You’d really be doing us a service,” Chief Daly said calmly. “Just call it up. Let me take a look.”

  Ray balked. “It’s not… I didn’t send it myself. It was done through the company’s mailing list software.”

  “Well, can you log in?”

  Ray shook his head. Very quickly, Jessie noticed. “No. I don’t have access.”

  The chief turned in his seat and glanced out the glass wall that overlooked the main office. “Is there anybody out there who can get me access?”

  “No,” Ray said quickly.

  “No?” the chief said, taking his time turning back to face the desk. “You seem very certain. Not one of the ten or fifteen people out there has access? And neither do you?”

  Ray remained tight-lipped.

  “It seems like a business continuity issue,” Jessie said. “What if your PR guy is out sick?”

  He glared at her.

  “You don’t have a login?” the chief asked patiently.

  “I don’t use it,” Ray said.

  “But you’ve got access.”

  Ray sighed and squinted at his screen. “I’m sorry, it appears I have a meeting now. I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

  “You’re refusing to show us the original email,” the chief said.

  Ray shook his head. “No. I just… I don’t have access. Will you excuse me?”

  He got up and stormed to the door in a hurry, but not before he had locked his desktop. “May I? I keep my office locked for security reasons.”

  Jessie looked at the chief, panicked. She was surprised by his calmness.

  ***

  “Chief, I don’t get it. Why is he so cagey about his precious emails?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t know, Jessie. But relax. We’ll get a warrant if we need it.”

  “But that’ll be too late,” Jessie said as he started the car. “What’s to stop him from deleting everything? We might never find out what was really sent.”

  “What do you suggest we do, Jessie? I can’t operate outside of the law.”

  She stared ahead glumly. “I don’t know. Break in there and try to crack his password? Seize his machine?”

  “We can’t do that without a warrant.”

  Darn it, Jessie thought. It had felt like they were really getting somewhere. “I don’t understand,” Jessie said. “He wasn’t a suspect in this at all, so why’s he acting like this. Can’t you charge him with obstructing an investigation?”

  The chief shook his head. “No, Jessie. Think about it. If I was able to march into any business and demand to see their emails without limit, I guarantee you this country would be rife with abuse of power. Now, I agree with you, it’s frustrating. But there’s nothing we can do about it. The law is there for a reason.”

  “How long to get a warrant?” Jessie asked from behind gritted teeth.

  The chief sighed. “At this time of year? It should be quite some time.” He must have seen the look on Jessie’s face when he said that, because he continued quickly: “but luckily I have a good relationship with Judge Conners. I’ll call him as soon as we get back to town.”

  “Can’t you call him now?” Jessie asked. “If we can get the warrant and get back here before Ray is out of his meeting…”

  “No,” the chief said. “And it’s not because I’m being difficult. I’m trying to prioritize.”

  Butterflies fluttered in Jessie’s belly. “Prioritize what? We’ve got no other leads.”

  His expression turned grave. “We’ve got to sort out Lottie’s arrangements. I don’t want her staying at that house alone until this is over.”

  Jessie nodded. “She can stay with me.”

  “No,” he said quickly. “You don’t understand, Jessie. We’re dealing with somebody who’s incredibly sneaky and astonishingly resourceful. It’s not safe. I don’t think she’d be safe even with me and the rest of the officers from my station camped outside her home.”

  “But the killer isn’t targeting her. He’s going after people who Lottie might have a motive to attack.”

  Chief Daly nodded. “That’s true. But you’ve got to think about this: less than a day after Ken printed that article about Lottie’s release, the killer struck again. Now, how do you think they’re going to react if Lottie isn’t arrested for this new crime that points straight to her? Worse, what if it gets out that she outsmarted them with your help?”

  Jessie’s stomach flipped over. “Oh my goodness. You think we might be in danger?”

  “Think is too uncertain a word here, Jessie. I’m willing to bet on it. Please tell me you didn’t share your plan with anybody?”

  Jessie thought frantically. Now she understood how Lottie had felt earlier—it was easy to think clearly when you weren’t trying to think of an answer that could save your life. “No.”

  “You don’t sound so sure.”

  “Well, I don’t think so. Mel and Lottie, obviously. But I don’t think we told Aunt Bee. And I told the others to keep it quiet because we didn’t want the killer getting wind of the ruse.”

  Chief Daly floored the gas pedal.

  Chapter 22

  Jessie’s heart was racing by the time they pulled into her driveway. She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but there seemed to be a darkness hanging over the house. She glanced at the house across the street and wished that her neighbor was in town. Chad Denver was a former football star—he’d surely be able to see off any trouble.

  Jessie shivered. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

  She hurried up the path and opened the door. She could have cried with relief when she heard the laughter coming from the kitchen. She glanced back at the chief and exhaled sharply. He nodded.

  “Everything sounds in order,” he said. “Go tell them what we found out from Ray —or what we didn’t find out. Let’s hope Lottie has remembered something else. In the meantime, I’ll go call Judge Conners and get in touch with the coroner. I can’t imagine the autopsy will tell us anything more than the guys at the scene did, but here’s hoping our killer wasn’t so cautious this time, huh?”

  Jessie nodded. At this stage, they were relying on the killer having slipped up because they had nothing else to go off of.

  “I’m back,” Jessie called when she had locked and bolted the front door. She headed for the kitchen and wasn’t surprised to find the others sitting in the exact same places as they’d been when she left them. Now Aunt Bee was with them. “Oh, hey Aunt Bee. You just missed the chief. I didn’t realize you were here.”

  “Nobody was answering their phones,” her aunt grumbled. “So I stopped by here to see what was going on. You should have seen the resistance this one put up when I tried to get in.” She pointed at Melanie.

  Mel shrugged. “We’re on high alert, that’s all. No offense Aunt Bee.” She turned to Jessie. “I told her everything. She knew most of it already.”

  “Of course I did,” Bee said, sounding offended. “Well, apart from the bit about the headline in the Chronicle. Couldn’t you have told me? Honestly, Jessie. You acted surprised when I told you Lottie had been released. It’s no wonder Ken was in such a state when I met him on the street earlier.”

  Jessie had been about to join them at the table but that last part made her freeze. “How so?” she asked warily. In all the activity that morning, she had completely forgotten to call Ken and talk about the consequences of the headline she had pushed him to publish. “Oh gosh, I should call him.”
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br />   Aunt Bee nodded solemnly. “That’s a good idea. He seemed on edge. And it’s no wonder.”

  “Okay,” Jessie said, looking around. She had also forgotten to feed Toby before she left—it was turning into the most disastrous day.

  She hurried into the kitchen and pulled a pouch of dog food from the cupboard under the bench. He knew what she was doing before she even pulled open the pack—he was jumping up on her legs within seconds. Jessie had tried and tried to train him to sit and wait, but he had ignored every attempt to teach him. Jessie’s attitude didn’t help—he was so cute that she was never able to stop herself from giving him the treats even when he hadn’t done the thing he was supposed to do.

  “There you go, my love,” she crooned as she spooned the food into his bowl and went to top up his water. “I promise we’ll go do the thing you like later once I’ve spoken to Ken.” She patted his head. She had learned months before that it was a foolish idea to mention the word ‘walk’ within Toby’s earshot. Whenever she did, he ran to the cupboard by the door and grabbed his lead, and he’d wait beside the front door whining until she came and clipped the leash to his collar.

  “Right,” Jessie said, washing her hands and returning to the table. She frowned when she heard what they were talking about. “I don’t mean to sound like a prison warden here, but aren’t we supposed to be trying to piece together the days before the murder to see who could have it in for Lottie?”

  They all stared at her blankly.

  “Because I’m hearing a lot of chatter about seating plans and the ideal number of tiers to have on a wedding cake.”

  Aunt Bee shrugged. “We tried. We couldn’t figure out anything new, so I thought we might as well try to sort through the wedding plans. It’s a lot more fun doing it together than doing it alone. Charles isn’t one of these ‘new men’ who delight in organizing weddings and baking and such.”