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THE NEXT MORNING, DANA drove her Ford onto the eastbound ramp of the 401 to the GTA (Greater Toronto Area). Her mind whirled with all sorts of thoughts. It had been a crazy twenty-four hours since discovering Brenda’s body in the basement of the Barinotta home.
An hour later, she then drove on the QEW and enjoyed the view of the breathtaking Toronto waterfront, Lake Ontario. The lake was particularly blue today given the sunny sky. She gaped at the Toronto skyline with all the skyscrapers and most noticeably, the great CN Tower. It was once the world’s tallest building. It was still the world’s tallest free-standing structure and even had a restaurant at the top called 360 with glass windows all around and rotates so that one could dine in fine class while enjoying a rotating view of the city with a stunning panoramic view of Lake Ontario. All this from a view from 1,815 feet in the sky.
Toronto was certainly a beautiful, clean city. The buildings, most of them were newly built—as in the last fifty years. There were a lot of glass buildings, too and brand new condo high-rises along the highway and waterfront. What an amazing view to wake up to in the morning, she thought.
She took a turn downtown and made her way up to the Bay Street district. It was difficult to find parking on the busy street with the street cars and morning traffic, but she finally made her way up to a parking lot and grabbed her ticket. She almost paused when she saw it would cost her $18. Okay, this was so not Berry Cove.
She glanced at the business card.
Okay, here goes nothing...
* * *
LATER THAT MORNING, at the Cozy Cupcakes Café, Katie looked around surreptitiously as she placed a new batch of cupcakes into the glass display case.
She was hoping that Rebecca would make her usual rounds at the café which was usually around this time. Dana had a point, Katie thought. Why on earth would Rebecca be showing the listing on Berry Lane when she was no longer authorized to?
And furthermore, it was very odd that Rebecca never even thought about showing the basement. From as far back as Katie could remember, Rebecca had always been a thorough person. Whenever she showed a house, she often went through every nook and cranny of that place. Even on top of the roof. Okay, maybe not on top of the roof, but she pretty much went anywhere in the house that was safe to get to. Unless...she knew that Brenda’s body was in the basement!
The more Katie thought about that, the more suspicious Rebecca looked.
Just then, she spotted Rebecca in the parking lot through the window.
What is she up to?
Rebecca looked around suspiciously before opening the trunk of her car and placing a large tote bag inside it. She then glanced around again over her shoulders and closed the trunk.
Katie wasted no time and pulled off her pink Cozy Cupcakes apron. “Lizzy, do you mind covering the till for me?”
“Sure, no problem,” Lizzy said as she hovered over to Katie’s spot and keyed in her passcode on the cash register. Lizzy then took the next customer in line.
Katie hurried out through the door and made her way over to Rebecca. “Rebecca?”
Rebecca turned around startled. “Katie!” A wide unnatural smile spread across her lips. It was so unlike Rebecca to smile.
“Did you hear about Brenda Barinotta?”
Rebecca swallowed hard. “Um...yes, I....I heard from Bea. Sad isn’t it? ”
“Yes it is,” Katie said cautiously.
“Well, I have to go now.”
“Aren’t you coming in for your usual coffee and cupcake?”
“Um, not this time, I’m in a hurry. I have an appointment at Bea’s.”
“But I thought you were just there. Isn’t that where you heard about Brenda?”
“Silly me. Of course.”
“Rebecca, I’m going to get to the point. Dana and I thought it was very odd that you didn’t show that client the basement. Did you know Brenda was....down there?”
“Excuse me?” Her eyes widened with shock. “How dare you? Do you really think I would have known?”
“You usually make sure that a house is in tip top shape before you give a client a tour, Rebecca. Remember, you showed me and Dana a few houses on the west side of town when we were thinking of selling Grandma Rae’s house and getting something smaller. You told us that you like to stage the properties you show or at least make sure it’s presentable. You always like to take your clients on a detailed tour of every corner of the house.”
Rebecca paced nervously by her car, her arms folded across her chest. She pinched her lips tight. “Fine. All right. I got there and I...I saw that the basement was messy—but I didn’t see Brenda. I told her beforehand to make sure the place was clean before I show it. I didn’t have time to clean it up. But that’s all.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes. There’s nothing more to say about that matter. I am still the listing agent to sell Brenda’s house...or estate now.”
Katie couldn’t wait to tell Dana.
* * *
“BUT I JUST SPOKE TO Bea earlier at the salon,” Dana said over the phone. “She told me that Rebecca was pretty upset about losing that gig. Brenda apparently changed her mind about using Rebecca as a sales agent. She was pretty peeved according to Bea.
“So she was lying then?”
“Yup. Somebody’s lying. Somebody’s covering up something and I’d like to know what.” Dana’s voice was cutting out over the cell phone.
“Are you in a bad area? I’m hearing static on my end. You’re cutting out, cuz.”
“I’m just heading into a meeting with Mr. Maddles. I’m near an alleyway.”
“Stay safe. I’ll talk to you later. Keep in touch.”
“Will do.”
After her call ended with Dana, Katie left the office and went back into the kitchen. Inga and the team were busy making another batch of coconut cream cupcakes. The scent of the rich vanilla and coconut cream wafted to her nostrils. She loved working at the Cozy Cupcakes Café. There was something soothing about the aroma of freshly baked cupcakes.
When she walked out into the dining room, she saw Rebecca on her cell phone sitting at a corner table with a half-eaten cupcake on a plate. She’d just ended a call and taken the last few sips of her coffee before getting up.
“Enjoy your snack?” Katie said, approaching her.
“Yes. The coconut cream is to die for.”
“Yes, it is.”
“You need to give me that recipe.”
Katie grinned. “Well, you know it’s our family secret.”
“Of course.”
“Let me walk you out.”
Rebecca seemed surprised at first but shrugged. As they walked out into the parking lot away from the customers, Katie said, “I just spoke with Dana, Rebecca.”
“And?”
“You weren’t exactly honest with me a moment ago.”
“What do you mean?”
“About Brenda. Word has it that she changed her mind about letting you sell her house.”
Rebecca froze.
“Okay,” Rebecca sighed deeply then looked around surreptitiously. She then popped open the trunk of her car. “Here it is,” she said.
Rebecca pulled out the large black tote bag with the folders inside it. “These are the flyers I’d given to Brenda about Rebecca Realty of Berry Cove—and the contract.”
Katie glanced at the folder with the contract and brochures. There was a red lipstick mark across it with an X.
“Did she do this?”
“She was being childish. I went back to the house to grab these before anyone else saw them. I reminded her about the buyer-seller contract she signed with me and that we had a binding agreement, but she just laughed at me and told me that she was going with someone else. I already had a client lined up to view the property. Business is slow right now and I really needed the commission. I knew she wanted to sell the house.”
“So when you saw her body in the basement, you just went ahead with the plan.”
“No. I swear to you, I didn’t see her body.”
Katie sighed. “Well, it wasn’t very professional of you to go back to the house against her wishes. You could lose your license.”
“But that’s just it. She called me up late last night and said that she’d changed her mind. She told me that I could show the house but she told me that she wasn’t going to pay me my full commission.”
“She did?”
“Yes. That girl was stark crazy.”
“What time was that?”
“It was after nine.”
“After nine, huh? Did you tell this to the cops?”
“Not yet.”
“I think you’d better see Detective Troy down at the station.”
Rebecca sighed deeply. “I guess I have no choice now.”
Katie couldn’t wait to tell Dana but she knew she was in a meeting right now with Mr. Maddles. Seemed like Brenda had no shortage of people in her life that weren’t upset she was dead!