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Suzanne towed Maddie toward the little hallway that led to the bathroom.
“Look!” Suzanne’s voice shook as she pointed to the tray on the small table outside the bathroom door.
A knife dripping with blood lay on the silver serving tray.
“What in the world—” Jill sounded like she was choking. Maddie had been so focused on Suzanne that she hadn’t realized the older woman had followed them.
“I put that tray down when I went to the bathroom.” Suzanne kept her voice down. She looked over her shoulder, as if expecting a guest to interrupt them. “It was empty. I swear, Maddie.”
“I know.” Maddie held her best friend’s hands. “I know you couldn’t have anything to do with this – whatever this is.”
Suzanne seemed to sag in relief at Maddie’s belief in her.
“I got such a shock when I came out of the bathroom and this ... this was on my tray.”
“Did you touch anything?” Jill asked.
“No.” Suzanne shook her head. “I ran to get Maddie.”
“Good.” Jill drummed her fingers on her mouth. “I think we should get Bob and tell him.”
“Good idea,” Maddie agreed. She looked at Suzanne and Jill. “I think someone should stay here and guard the tray. So nobody touches it.”
“Yeah.” Suzanne’s ponytail didn’t bounce for once. “Who should stay? And who should go?”
“I’ll stay,” Maddie volunteered.
Suzanne looked relieved. So did Jill.
“Back in a minute.” Suzanne dashed off toward the guests, Jill by her side.
For a second, Maddie regretted her offer. She stared at the knife, her stomach queasy at the sight of the red fluid, a coppery tang reaching her nostrils. Just as she hoped she wasn’t going to throw up, Suzanne and Jill returned, along with Bob.
“Are all the guests accounted for?” Maddie asked. She hoped Bob was going to say yes.
“I haven’t seen Vanessa for a while.” He frowned.
“And she was by your side all evening, wasn’t she?” Suzanne asked.
Jill scowled at Suzanne.
“Yeah. Pretty much.” Bob looked sheepish.
“I don’t know why you invited her,” Jill snapped. “She’s after you.”
“What?” Bob looked surprised. “She likes my coffee, Jill, that’s all. She’s always coming into the café at Redbud Glen. She’s one of my best customers. And I thought the purpose of this party was to encourage our customers to come even more often – to both our locations.”
“She doesn’t need any encouragement.” Jill’s cheeks blazed.
“Maybe we should see if we can find Vanessa,” Maddie suggested, before Jill and Bob’s differing opinions of Vanessa led to a real argument.
“Good idea,” Suzanne said quickly. “Maddie and I can go look for her and you two can stay here and guard ... that.” She pointed to the knife on the tray.
Suzanne grabbed Maddie’s hand and pulled her down the hallway and into the main room, where a few guests remained, Genevieve one of them.
“What are you doing?” Maddie whispered as they practically hurtled out of the café, a strong breeze ruffling her hair.
“Getting out of there.” Suzanne exhaled deeply. “I didn’t want them to start fighting in front of us. And we need to look for Vanessa to check that she’s okay. What if ... what if ...”
“I know.” Maddie touched Suzanne’s arm in understanding. “But do you think it was a good idea to leave Jill and Bob guarding the knife?”
Suzanne’s eyes rounded. “You don’t think – no! Of course they didn’t have anything to do with it – whatever happened.”
“I didn’t say they did,” Maddie replied. “But—”
“It’s a shame you didn’t cast a Coffee Vision spell today,” Suzanne said. “Maybe it would have shown this happening.”
“Maybe,” Maddie replied.
“Or even who the murderer was.”
“If there is a murderer,” Maddie said. “Maybe this is someone’s idea of a joke and the blood is fake.” But it had looked and smelled so real – not that she’d had much experience with blood, apart from when she’d cut her finger making dinner one night.
“That’s some idea of a joke.” Suzanne strode around the outside of the café, to the right. “This is where I brought Vanessa her espresso. She was having a cigarette out here.”
“And?” Maddie prompted.
“And she thanked me in her charming manner—” Suzanne sounded sarcastic “—and to tell Bobby she’d be back inside in a few minutes. Look.” Suzanne stiffened.
Pink fabric peeped out from behind a bush. The same kind of material that Vanessa’s dress was made of.
“Oh, no.” Maddie’s stomach knotted with dread.
Suzanne clutched Maddie’s hand as they tiptoed toward the fabric. A pink stiletto poked out from the bush. Next to it was an espresso cup, the liquid trickling out of it.
“I think we’ve found Vanessa,” Suzanne whispered.
***
A SUBDUED MADDIE AND Suzanne trudged back inside the café.
“We better tell Jill and Bob first,” Maddie suggested as they made their way down the short hallway toward the bathroom.
“And then we’ll have to call the sheriff,” Suzanne added. “I can’t believe this has happened, Maddie.”
“I know.” Vanessa might have flirted outrageously with Bob, but was that enough reason for someone to kill her? Did Vanessa have a family? A husband? A boyfriend? A child?
Jill and Bob were talking quietly as Maddie and Suzanne approached them.
“Did you find her?” Bob asked.
“Yes – and no,” Suzanne said somberly.
As Suzanne filled them in on what happened, Maddie gave a sudden start, mirrored by Jill.
“I’ve go to check on Trixie.”
“And Boyd.”
The two of them dashed off together toward the garden. Maddie hadn’t felt a prickle of intuition that Trixie needed her, but she also hadn’t noticed anything when Vanessa had been murdered. Did that mean the little bit of intuition she possessed was so slight that this had happened under her nose without her realizing it? Or that she wasn’t meant to know in advance that this would happen?
“They’re still asleep,” Maddie and Jill said at the same time as they gazed inside the kennel. It looked like Trixie and Boyd hadn’t moved since Maddie had checked on them a short while ago.
Thank goodness they were safe.
“Did you check on them earlier?” Maddie looked at Jill.
“Yep.” Jill nodded. “It sounds like you did, too.”
“I took a break for a few minutes. Suzanne made Vanessa’s espresso – her last espresso.” Maddie’s voice was hushed.
“I can’t believe this has happened.” Jill shook her head. “I only met Vanessa for the first time today – and I didn’t like her – but I didn’t want this to happen to her.”
They both gazed at Trixie and Boyd for a few more seconds, seemingly blissfully unaware of what had occurred, then Maddie turned toward the café.
“I guess we better go back inside.”
“Yep. I guess so.” Jill sounded unenthusiastic.
They headed back into the coffee shop. Some of the guests were still there, talking to each other and nibbling on brownies and health balls, as if they didn’t have a clue that one of their fellow guests was dead. Maybe they didn’t. Maddie envied them.
“I’ve called the sheriff.” Suzanne rushed up to Maddie, her voice a whisper.
“Where’s Bob?” Jill scanned the room.
“He’s outside. He said he should guard the – the – Vanessa,” Suzanne said.
“What about the knife?” Maddie asked.
“I was looking after it – until I saw you come in.” Suzanne looked guiltily toward the hall. “I better get back to it. Come with me, Mads?”
Maddie accompanied Suzanne toward the little hallway. But before they could turn left toward the bathroom and the table that held the bloody knife, Kevin loomed in front of them.
“What’s going on?” His face was alive with curiosity.
Maddie and Suzanne looked at each other. What should they say?
The other few guests that remained laughed and chatted with each other. Grandma Pat still sat at the table although it looked like she’d finished her cup of tea.
Maddie glanced over to the espresso machine. Jill stood in front of it, wringing her hands.
“Come on, I know something’s going on.” Kevin jerked his head toward the bathroom. “Bob’s disappeared, and you two and Jill are acting funny.”
“Maybe you should talk to Jill,” Maddie suggested. Suzanne seemed tongue-tied for once.
“I’m talking to you two. I don’t want anything to ruin Bob’s launch – he’s worked hard to be successful.”
“So has Jill,” Suzanne pointed out.
“Yeah.” Kevin nodded. “So what’s going on?”
“I think you should ask Jill,” Maddie repeated. “If you’ll excuse us, we have to go to the bathroom.”
Suzanne nodded, and without waiting for Kevin to reply, walked down the small hallway toward the bathroom.
Maddie followed.
“I hope the sheriff hurries up,” Suzanne murmured. “And I hope—”
“Ha! I knew something was going on!”
Maddie jumped at the sound of Kevin’s voice.
Suzanne placed a hand over her heart.
“You really need to see Jill,” Suzanne said, moving in front of the small table that held the tray – and the knife.
“What are you trying to hide?” Kevin pushed past her until he stood in front of the table. “What’s that?” He reached out to pick up the knife.
“Don’t touch it!” Maddie knocked his hand away. “It’s evidence.”
“Of what?” He frowned.
“The sheriff is coming,” Suzanne informed him. “So—”
“Hey, I saw you outside – with that tray,” Kevin pointed his finger at Suzanne.
“She was outside delivering an espresso to Vanessa,” Maddie explained, wondering if they should even be talking to him right now, even if he was Bob’s friend.
“Where is she?” Kevin craned his neck, as if expecting Vanessa to suddenly appear in front of him. “I haven’t seen her in a while.”
“She’s ...” Maddie faltered. Was it wise to tell this man that Vanessa was dead? Should she wait until the sheriff arrived?
“You did something to her!” He glowered at Suzanne. “That’s what this is about. And that’s the weapon!” He gestured to the bloody knife.
“I didn’t!” Suzanne protested.
“Then why aren’t you telling me what’s going on? And why is there a knife dripping with blood? Where’s Bob? Or have you hurt him, too?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Maddie snapped. Suzanne was so pale, she looked as if she was going to faint any second. Maddie pushed her friend into a chair near the table, trying to shield her from Kevin’s accusations.
“Girls, the sheriff is here.” Jill appeared in the hallway entrance.
“Thank goodness,” Maddie murmured. She looked over at Suzanne, who nodded and sat up straighter.
A portly man in his sixties stepped into the hallway. Dressed in a worn brown suit, cream shirt, and dark blue tie, he frowned as he registered their presence.
“Detective Edgewater! What are you doing here?” Maddie couldn’t hide her astonishment.
“I was about to ask you the same question, Maddie. The station at Aunt Winifred is short of man power and they asked me to fill in.” He looked keenly at all four of them – Maddie, Suzanne, Kevin, and Jill. “What’s going on?”
“We were catering Jill’s party.” Suzanne suddenly spoke, her face still pale.
“Suzanne, are you all right?” The detective looked at her in concern.
“I will be.” She offered him a weak smile.
Maddie bit her lip. Suzanne was usually so enthusiastic and confident about everything – seeing her shaken like this was worrying.
Maddie decided to help out her friend.
“We were catering Jill’s party, and there’s been an ... incident.” She tried to put it as delicately as she could.
“Vanessa’s dead.” Jill’s voice was heavy.
“Vanessa?” Detective Edgewater whipped out his old-fashioned notepad.
“I don’t know her last name,” Jill admitted. “Bob invited her. My business partner.”
Maddie’s gaze flickered from Jill to Detective Edgewater. Earlier, Jill had admitted to her that she and Bob were dating. Was she going to mention it to Detective Edgewater?
“And where is he?” Detective Edgewater enquired.
“Guarding the ... Vanessa,” Suzanne whispered.
The detective nodded. “I’ve got a man checking the perimeter.” He wrote something in his notebook. “Now, I know Maddie and Suzanne, but you are?” He turned to Jill, then frowned. “Haven’t we met before?”
“At the Estherville coffee festival.”
“That’s right.” Detective Edgewater nodded.
Jill gave him her name and address, and told him the reason for the party.
“And you, sir?” Detective Edgewater asked Kevin.
“I’m Kevin Alton, Bob’s best friend,” Kevin told the detective. “I’m his accountant as well and I’ve been doing his taxes for years. We go back a long way.” He frowned. “How do you know Maddie and Suzanne? Have they been in trouble before?”
“Nothing like that.” Detective Edgewater replied brusquely, before changing the subject. “Has anyone touched the knife?” He bagged it for evidence.
“No.” Maddie shook her head.
“No,” Suzanne murmured. “At least, I don’t think so. I was guarding it but I was keeping an eye out for Maddie.” She shivered. “I didn’t like being alone here with it. So I poked my head around the entrance.” She pointed to the beginning of the hallway. “And I saw Maddie and Jill come inside the café. I rushed over to tell Mads I’d called the sheriff.”
“So no one was guarding the knife when you did that?” Detective Edgewater probed.
“No.” Suzanne looked guilty.
“I saw her outside.” Kevin pointed to Suzanne as he repeated his earlier accusation. “With that tray. And then she was standing over that tray in here – but it had the bloody knife on it.”
“When was this?” Detective Edgewater asked sharply.
“Suzanne didn’t do it.” Maddie glared at Kevin. “Detective Edgewater, you know she couldn’t have done something like this.”
“It does seem out of character.” Detective Edgewater rubbed his chin. “But you know I have to examine all the possibilities. Suzanne will get her turn to tell me exactly what happened.”
Maddie nodded, wishing she could say more in Suzanne’s defense, but not wanting to make things worse for her best friend, either. She glanced over at Suzanne. Some of her color had returned, but she wasn’t back to her normal bright self.
After Detective Edgewater took their initial statements, listening intently to Suzanne, who told him exactly what she’d told Maddie earlier about finding the bloody knife on her tray after she went to the bathroom, he told them not to leave the café until he gave them the all clear.
“Where’s Trixie?” he suddenly asked.
“In the garden with Boyd, Jill’s dog,” Maddie replied.
“Is she okay?”
“I checked on her straight after we discovered what happened.”
“I went with her,” Jill said. “Both of them were asleep in the kennel.”
“Good.” Detective Edgewater nodded. “All right. You folks stay here.”
“Here here?” Suzanne paled.
“Maybe you could make her a cappuccino,” Detective Edgewater suggested to Maddie. “Or a cup of tea.”
A sheriff’s deputy appeared in the hallway and murmured something to Detective Edgewater, who nodded.
“Okay,” the detective said. “You can go out to the main room. The other guests have been questioned apart from Bob. Have a cup of tea or coffee, and then you can go home. But don’t leave your hometowns.” He looked at each of them in turn. “If I need to ask you any follow up questions, I’ll be in touch.”
Maddie and Suzanne nodded. Maddie noticed Jill looked somber but Kevin seemed to grit his teeth as if he didn’t like being told what to do.
“And the area outside where the – Vanessa was found, is cordoned off,” Detective Edgewater added.
Maddie and Suzanne looked at each other, thinking the same thing. If there was another way to get to their car, so they didn’t have to look at the marked off area, they’d take it.
They all trooped back into the main space of the coffee shop. Bob sat at a table with Grandma Pat, looking shaken. Jill rushed over to join him.
“What a terrible thing to happen,” Maddie heard her say.
Bob nodded in response, but Maddie couldn’t hear what he said to Jill, and his grandmother.
Detective Edgewater made his way over to the trio. Maddie guessed he was going to take Bob’s statement.
“I’d love a hot chocolate, Maddie,” Suzanne said, heading over to the espresso machine and looking hopeful.
“Coming right up.” Maddie forced a smile. Although Suzanne seemed to have recovered a little from her shock, she wasn’t back to her old self yet. “Sit down here.” Maddie pulled a small table over to the counter, coming back with a matching chair.
Maddie cast worried looks at her friend as she steamed the milk. Usually, Suzanne wouldn’t have a problem making her own drink, even if it was on an unfamiliar machine. Vanessa’s death – and finding the bloody knife – had certainly rattled her.
She looked over at Bob. He spoke to Detective Edgewater, while the law enforcement officer took notes. Vanessa’s death must have come as a shock to Bob as well – in fact, to everyone who was still at the party.
Maddie watched a few guests leave. As soon as Suzanne finished her drink, they’d go home.
As Maddie poured the drink into a white mug, the aroma of chocolate teased her senses. Maybe she should make a small one for herself – just in case she needed it.
Maddie handed Suzanne her drink then quickly made another.
“As soon as we finish these, we can get Trixie and go home,” she said, studying her friend.
“Sure.” Suzanne gave her a small smile, then took another sip of her drink.
Maddie patted her friend’s hand, wishing she could do something more. She glanced over at Grandma Pat’s table. Kevin had joined Jill, Bob, and his grandmother, and was talking to them. There was no sign of Detective Edgewater. Perhaps he was outside?
Kevin pointed to Maddie and Suzanne as he continued to speak to Bob.
Maddie frowned. He wasn’t attempting to accuse Suzanne of the murder, was he?
“What’s wrong?” Suzanne murmured.
“Nothing.” Maddie took a fortifying sip of her own hot chocolate. Suzanne’s back was to Grandma Pat’s table, and she didn’t want to give Suzanne anything extra to worry about.
A few minutes later, a hint of color blossomed in Suzanne’s cheeks.
“That was wonderful, Mads.” She smiled, this time more genuinely. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Maddie put down her cup – only a small amount of cocoa colored liquid remained. “We should get Trixie and drive home.”
“Yeah. Let’s get out of here.” Suzanne got up from the table.
“I’m telling you, she must have done it.” Kevin’s voice rose.
Suzanne turned her head, Grandma Pat’s table in her line of sight. Grandma Pat, Jill, Bob, and Kevin looked at them.
“I’m sure she didn’t,” Bob said, but Maddie thought he didn’t sound quite convinced. Or was it her imagination?
“That’s right,” Jill added. “Suzanne and Maddie are great girls.”
Bob said something in a quiet tone to Kevin – so quiet, Maddie couldn’t hear what he said.
When Suzanne just stood there, staring at the four of them in consternation, Maddie stepped up.
“We’re going home now,” she called out, making Jill her focus. “We’ll just get Trixie and be on our way.”
“Give your sweet cat a pat from me.” Jill seemed to force a smile. “Thanks for your help today.”
Maddie nodded, grabbing Suzanne’s hand and towing her out the side door towards the garden.
She heard Kevin’s voice again, but not the words. Thank goodness.
“I know what’s happening, Mads.” Suzanne’s voice didn’t sound like her. She sounded unsure and worried. “They all think I did it, didn’t they?”
“I’m sure they don’t really—”
“You don’t have to sugarcoat it, Mads. They all think I killed Vanessa. But you know I’m innocent. Don’t you?”
