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“THE NERVE OF THAT MAN,” Uncle Merv said later at the dinner table. Aunt Nia, Dana and Uncle Merv sat in the grand dining room by the fireplace and the vintage dinner table having their lasagna. They’d left dinner for Katie in the oven for later when she finished working from the café.
Dana hoped that Katie wouldn’t have too much to do and wanted to stay back and help her and the staff. But oh, Katie assured Dana that she had no trouble running things as she’d done before Dana showed up on the scene to take over managing the business side of things. Which was what she excelled at.
Katie had told Dana that if it hadn’t been for Dana getting the records straight and funneling her own savings into paying the suppliers and the overdue bills, the café would have gone under already.
But oh, Dana couldn’t wait to get her hands sticky with the real joy of running the business. The baking, shaking and swirling of the icing of the tasty cupcakes that people enjoy from the café.
But Katie had been such a darling sweetheart seeing how Dana had been pulling all-nighters just as she’d done back in college, getting the disastrous bookkeeping records straight that had been neglected since Nans passed away by her elderly accountant who had started to have trouble with his memory, locating receipts and his failing eyesight. Poor thing.
“I know. He does have some nerve,” Dana murmured after taking a bite of her lasagna. The sauce tasted rich but she wished she hadn’t added as much oregano.
Still, Auntie Nia and Uncle Merv were kind enough not to say anything about it, or perhaps they never noticed. She loved cooking and baking but she was no Grandma Rae or Martha Stewart or any of that, come to think of it.
Or, as Grandma Rae would once say, you need to feel love to cook with love.
Well, tonight she was feeling a little bit on the sour side. No doubt, she was distracted with thoughts of the murder investigation. She had a burning desire and compulsion to get to the bottom of the mystery surrounding Brad’s untimely passing and her mix up in all of this.
But she was going to find it, come heaven or high water.
“Who do you think could have done it?” Dana dropped her fork on the plate. “It must’ve been planned.”
“You know, I was thinking the same thing,” Aunt Nia said.
“And as I said earlier Dana,” Uncle Merv added, “We need to talk.”
“I know, Uncle.”
“Now you know me, I’m a puzzle solver,” Uncle Merv said.
“Yes, that’s right. He was able to pin down who was swindling money at the firm he worked at for over thirty years.” Aunt Nia confirmed.
“I know. That’s amazing what you did, Uncle. So sorry that it cost you your retirement, though. You really didn’t deserve that.”
“Oh, that’s nothing, pumpkin. But I love reading murder mysteries and I came up with some theories.”
“Oh, boy,” Aunt Nia said, rolling her eyes. She dropped her fork on the plate and wiped her mouth with the napkin. “Merv, please don’t go giving this poor child any of your fairy tales or fiction. This is reality. A really serious case.”
“I know. But sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. It helps to see some precedence.”
“Precedence?” Dana was lost now.
“Yes. You see there was this reporter who was once found dead in his office at some newspaper in Texas. It ended up being a staff member. Someone close to him.”
“That’s true. You know something, Uncle Merv, you do have a point. It had to be someone who knew his routine like clockwork. I always say that people are creatures of habit. Someone knew that he had his morning coffee with cupcakes delivered fresh first thing in the morning and that there would be a period where he would step away from his desk.”
“And they also know that the staff meet up first thing before the crack of dawn to get down to the editorials and the first printing and that he gets back to his desk with the goods there waiting for him. So there must have been plenty of opportunity for someone to tamper with his food.” Uncle Merv took a sip of his coffee. He seemed to come alive when talking about solving mysteries.
Dana wondered how he ever ended up an accountant instead of a mystery writer. He adjusted the rim of his glasses on his nose. His white and black hair reminded her of salt and pepper. He had a dark moustache and well defined dark eyebrows. She’d always been fond of stories and words of wisdom that uncle Merv used to tell her.
“I love the way you analyze things, Uncle.”
“You’re not too bad yourself, pumpkin. I do hope you publish more frequently with that online mystery riddles website. I really enjoy doing ‘em.”
“Uncle!” Dana was stunned. “Were you the one that sent me an email to keep it going? Or several emails?”
“Now, why would I do a thing like that, pumpkin?” His grin was subtle but sly.
Dana couldn’t help but roll her eyes and grin. “I think you tried to send me a few emails from the same IP address, pretending to be different people.”
“Oh, really now?” he grinned. “All right. All right. I confess. I tried to tell you to keep it going, sweets, but you wouldn’t listen so I figure if you think it’s coming from strangers, you’d believe ‘em.”
“Okay, you’ve got a point. I know you and auntie love me, so, of course, you would support everything I do. I wasn’t sure if I was good enough to keep it going more often.”
“You see now. Sometimes you’ve got to let things slide,” Uncle Merv said. “I hope you do forgive me.”
“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Thanks, pumpkin. We all have to be forgiving just as Ma Rae would preach.”
Dana grinned fondly remembering her grandma’s talks about forgiveness and how toxic it was to hold a grudge.
“I mean, I forgave Nia here for selling them Vuitton bags and then replacing them with fakes, thinking I wouldn’t notice.” He fixed the glasses back on his nose.
“Merv!” Aunt Nia looked positively mortified.
“Oh, dear.” Uncle Merv feigned innocent. “Did I say that out loud?”
Dana quickly rushed to change the subject before a heated argument happened. A grin surfaced on her face.
“So uncle, how did you know about Brad’s routine?”
“I used to do a special project for the Gazette. They were having trouble with their finances and book keeping after their other accountant up and left them. And that’s another story all together.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, Brad had it out with the old accountant. He’d dated his daughter and well, it didn’t go down too well, you know.”
“Boy, this Brad character really got around,” Dana said under her breath, then immediately regretted saying something less than favorable about the deceased, even if he had been underhanded to her.
He still didn’t deserve his unhappy ending. Everyone had redeeming characters, right? That’s what Grandma Rae had taught her. Look for the good in others.
“Sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned that. May he rest in peace,” Dana added.
“Oh, that’s all right, child. He was a player. Everyone knew that.” Aunt Nia had a stiff lip. She must have been really peeved after what he’d done to Katie. Who could blame her?
“Do you think the ex-accountant for the Gazette could have had anything to do with it? A former disgruntled employee?”
“Nah. He had motive all right, but not the opportunity. The security around the Gazette is pretty tight. Only staff and security can get around there.”
“Well, gee, I don’t know about that, Uncle. I mean when I arrived I was alone in the reception area.”
“But you had to be buzzed in by the security team in the basement. They oversee who enters and leaves.”
“Hmm. That’s very interesting.”
“What is?”
“The fact that the security staff must have seen someone leave or enter.”
“That wouldn’t help much if it was an inside job. And I believe it was.”
“Hmm. I see your point.” But another question was, who could have known Dana was going to be there too?
“Could you look into this for me, Uncle?”
“I would be more than happy to, pumpkin. I have a lot of time on my hands these days. And you know something. Research has always been my thing. I’ll keep my eyes and ears to the ground and see what’s being said. Can’t have anyone pointing the wrong finger at my little niece here.”
“Thanks uncle. I really do appreciate it.”
In the mean time, Dana was determined to do her own investigation, too. There was something that was really off about this detective Troy character. Something really odd. And she felt she really had to get down to the bottom of this.
Later, after dinner, Dana and Aunt Nia washed and put away the dishes. “You really don’t have to do this, Auntie. You’re a guest tonight.”
“Oh, nonsense. All the reason to help out. I’m not going to let you do all these dishes. After you did...um...well cook the dishes. And it was very delicious, Dana.”
“Are you sure now?” Dana teased, drying off a dish with a towel before placing it in the tall cupboard above the sink.
“Well, of course I’m sure. You’ve come a long way with your culinary skills, my dear. I’m so proud of you. And so would your grandmother be if she were here with us now. I mean, you were always the career type, captain of the school’s debate team, volleyball champ and Literature Club’s president who could work your way around an office or any corporate setting, organizing mergers, creative copy writing and all that stuff. No one expected you to be a kitchen princess, too. I mean your grandmother and most cooks we know don’t have half your executive strengths. We all can’t be perfect at everything you know. But at least you’ve made the effort and that’s what counts.”
“Thanks, Auntie.” Dana flushed.
Uncle Merv yawned. “I think my bed is calling me now. Dana. As always, you’re a lovely host.”
“Well, I’d better be heading off to bed soon myself.” Dana yawned. “I’ve got an early start tomorrow.”
“Of course you do, darling. Of course, you do. And don’t you worry your pretty little head about those awful detectives. They’re new recruits at the station, you know. Well, at least one of them is. They just think they can go around intimidating folks around here. Throwing their weight around and all.” Aunt Petunia gathered her coat and headed for the front door.
Dana walked her and uncle Merv out.
“Katie’s late tonight,” Dana commented, glancing at her watch.
“Well, she has the keys, she can let herself in.”
“I know.”
Later, after a long warm bath in the claw foot tub in the upstairs bathroom, Dana thought she heard a sound coming from downstairs. She towel-dried her hair quickly and walked toward the hallway. The board made a squeaking sound as she walked.
“Who’s there? Katie is that you?”
“It’s only me.” Katie shouted from below.
“Phew. I thought it was another drive by,” Dana said walking down the steps.
“Another drive by?”
“Yes.” Dana explained about the note earlier.
“What? Well, did you say anything to the detective?”
“Nope. I just didn’t feel it at the time.”
“Well, Dana that’s not good. It could be a crazy person trying to run you out of town. You need to let the cops know.”
“You have a point. I didn’t think about that. I just thought, well...”
“Well, what?”
“I don’t know. I just thought that maybe Troy had something to do with the note.”
“But why? He’s a cop.”
“Precisely. And he doesn’t like me or he at least suspects me of something. And most importantly, he happened to be here just moments later. How could anyone have left that note stuck to the rocking chair outside and just ran on foot without me seeing them or hearing them? If they’d driven, I would have heard the engine go on the car, right?”
“True. But it could have been someone who biked it, too.”
“That’s true.” Dana thought for a moment. “Katie, is there something I should know about Berry Cove. I mean everyone here is so sweet and everything, but, well, I don’t know if I fit in. I mean, Gerdie-Sue told me that around here, people don’t really like different, if you know what I mean.”
Katie rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Let me tell you something, cuz. Don’t always believe everything miss busy-mouth has to say. She sometimes exaggerates things around here. And well, you know, Brad wasn’t exactly liked around here.”
“So I hear.”
“Mom probably told you more details about what happened between us. Or what didn’t happen between us.”
“Sort of. What was that about? I mean he just doesn’t seem your type.”
“He isn’t. We were working on a project together and a group of us were supposed to go to lunch. Well, no one else showed up and it was just me and him. Well, I was hesitant at first. I mean, I’ve heard of his reputation and I’m not exactly a fast lane kind of girl but I figured it was only a business lunch. And well, he tried to put the moves on me and I put him in his place.”
“Good for you, cuz.”
“You would think so,” she laughed it off. “Apparently, that’s not the version he told his friends the next day. Everyone thought I was easy. I mean how childish was that of him?”
“Gosh, I see your point. He really was a character.”
“Tell me about it. It seems like he’s quite suited to Bianca Baxter.”
“Bianca Baxter? So what’s the story there?”
“Well, she’s an heiress, of course, to the long family dynasty that built the first bake shop, the Baxter’s Bakery, in Berry Cove in the late 1890s.”
“That is quite a history. They’re legends, aren’t they?”
“They were legends,” Katie corrected Dana.
“Were legends? What happened?”
“Well, they’d fallen on hard times over the years and well, things do change. Their recipes are not quite what is used to be and neither is their customer service. Not since Old Mr. Baxter passed away years ago, and he was an okay guy. But he handed the store down that was given to him from his great-grandfather reluctantly to his daughter, who is Bianca’s mother.”
“Reluctantly? Why reluctantly?”
“Well, haven’t you heard?”
“No. Heard what?”
Just then they were interrupted by the sound of a broken glass. It seemed as if Truffles had knocked something over after climbing on to the table. She’d already had her snack time.
After getting Truffles settled beside them and cleaning up the broken glass, they reconvened in the living room sitting on the plush cozy sofa by the fireplace. Dana curled up on the couch with her MacBook Air tapping in some notes.
“What are you doing?” Katie asked.
“I’m doing what I always do, cuz. Making some notes.”
“Notes?”
“Yes, notes. If somebody is trying to frame me then I’d better get my notes together. I might need ‘em in court. Now, you were saying?”
Katie grinned and rolled her eyes. “Okay, cuz. You were always the organized one. Well, old man Baxter wanted to leave the bakery to his son but he’d died in an auto accident some years back so he reluctantly gave it to his daughter hoping that she wouldn’t mess it up since she knows as much about a kitchen as she does Latin which is zilch.”
“I see,” Dana said tapping away on her keyboard.
“And that’s not all, girl. She’s a shopaholic and has used up whatever inheritance she’d gotten from the bakery, spending it lavishly on gifts and expensive vacations. Never mind that, she had pretty much let the bakery gone down to the dogs.”
“How so?”
“Not giving a rat’s behind what anyone does at the store. And the new chef changed up the recipes and she gave the go ahead without reviewing them first. See? No concern what so ever.”
“What’s wrong with giving the chef the go ahead with new recipes?”
Katie cocked a brow. “You don’t know their new chef or should I say, baker, do you?”
“No. I don’t.”
“Well, let’s just say he’s a bit taste-impaired.”
“Oh, dear.”
“Yes, dear, unfortunately. Looks as if when the five senses were giving out, that one was skipped with him.”
Dana’s jaw fell open.
“Sorry to see that old bakery go down hill,” Katie continued, “but blaming those who work hard in keeping up with customers’ likes is not going to help them a bit.”
“True. Do you think one of them is trying to frame me?”
“Well, I will say that Mrs. Baxter is not exactly an easy-to-get-along-with type of mother. She never liked Brad and apparently had a fight over him with her daughter. She told Bianca to dump his sorry butt.”
“And?”
“Well, they got engaged anyway, so there’s that. “
“Well, that would have given Mrs. Baxter the perfect motive then.”
“Possibly. But that would be hard to prove.”
Dana placed her laptop on the couch beside her. She sighed deeply. “I should be heading to bed. It looks like tomorrow might end up being a long day.”
Later, Dana tossed and turned in her bed that night and woke up to see the display on the clock. It read 2 o’clock in the morning. She just couldn’t sleep. She had a lot on her mind.
Boy, was moving to Berry Cove proving to be more than what she bargained for. But tomorrow was another day. And it had to be better, right?