BlueBuried Muffins (Black Cat Cafe Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) (6 page)

“The sweet aroma made my mouth water as soon as I walked inside. What time did you get here? It’s barely seven o’clock.” Annie sipped her coffee, looking around. “And what are all these boxes?”

Leona pulled five more pans of muffins from the big commercial oven. “That’s your freebrary. All those books need to be organized on the new shelves today. Danny will be here sometime this morning to put up our new sign.”

Annie stuffed the rest of the muffin in her mouth, freeing her hands to tie the apron around her waist. “What do you want me to do first?”

“The last batch of blueberry muffins is baking. We need at least 50 plain cupcakes for kids to decorate tomorrow during the Spring Celebration. I’ll do that next. You can start making the chili—meat and veggie—and chicken noodle soup. The recipes are on my laptop.”

Annie put the ground hamburger in the biggest pot she could find, browning the meat before adding crushed tomatoes, onions, kidney beans, peppers and corn. While everything simmered, she chopped the veggies for the batch of vegetarian chili—onion, garlic, sweet potato, green peppers, crushed tomato, corn, black beans and tofu in the second big pot. Once everything was cooking nicely, she added the chili powder, cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes.

“This is the place to be.” Annie put her wooden spoon down and turned around to see the smiling face of Danny Davis. “Got any more coffee for a poor handyman?”

Leona slapped him on the back and set a cup of coffee on the counter. “Here you go. You’re my savior, Danny. Nice job with the book shelves. How’s the sign looking?”

“Come on out and take a look,” he said with a sparkle in his eyes. “It’s all done, so you can take it or leave it.” He roared with laughter at his own joke and Leona and Annie rolled their eyes as they followed Danny into the hallway.

The oval sign leaned next to the door of the café. The background was stained with a warm, rich sunflower yellow with the silhouette of a black cat in the middle and Black Cat Café in black letters above the cat.

In smaller letters at the bottom was Leona’s motto, Take It or Leave It. A thin lime green line framed the sign and matched the cat’s eye.

“So, why did you change the name, Leona?”

“Annie found a black kitten inside on the day she arrived.” Leona gazed quickly at Annie from the corner of her eyes and shrugged. “ I guess we’re both ready for some changes.”

“I’ll hang the sign as soon as I sample a couple of your muffins.” He patted his stomach. “Got to keep this beast happy. By the way,” he hung his head down, looking a little sheepish, “I fell asleep in your office two nights ago, after you left. Ya know, when I was building the bookshelves? Had a little too much to drink, I guess.”

“You were here? What time?” Annie asked, shocked that Danny might have been in the café when Max was there.

“It was early morning by the time I woke up. Some guy gave me a hard time, wanted to get into the café.”

“Was he wearing a flannel shirt?”

“I think so, red and black plaid. Why? Did you see him when you got here?”

Leona looked at Annie before replying. “It sounds like it was Max, the guy who was murdered. You heard about that, didn’t you?”

“No,” Danny said sheepishly. “I went home and slept off a hangover.”

“What happened to your face Danny? Were you in a fight?” Annie kept her voice calm but dread settled in her stomach.

Chapter 8

Danny’s hand went to his face. “Huh, I don’t know. Must have fallen into something.” He pulled his Red Sox baseball cap off, ran his fingers through his hair and looked from Annie to Leona. “I don’t always remember what I do. Can I get those muffins now?”

Leona linked her arm through his and they went into the cafe. “Sure thing. I’ll fix you up and you can get back to hanging the sign.”

Annie glanced into Danny’s open tool box and saw a long, pointed steel tool lying on top of his other assorted tools. She made a mental note to herself to ask Tyler or Detective Jaffrey if they found the murder weapon yet.

The timer for the last batch of muffins went off and Leona pulled those trays out of the oven. Annie hurried inside to give the two pots of chili a stir and turn the heat to low. They still had a ways to go before all the flavors were blended.

Danny sat at the counter washing the muffins down with his black coffee. Leona put all the muffins on the cooling rack, chatting with Danny about his work at the café. “What time did you finish up the bookshelves the other night? They are perfect.”

“I went out to get a bite to eat and something to drink and got back around eight, I think. There were a couple of voices coming out of the pottery guy’s shop.”

“That’s late for Jake to still be at his shop. Could you see who it was?”

“No, the door was closed. The voices were muffled, but someone inside sounded angry. I came in here and minded my own business, got lost in making the bookshelves. That happens to me when I do a project, helps me forget the demons from the war. That and the booze. I’m not proud of it, but sometimes the memories get so bad I have to drown out the fear.” Danny looked up at Leona. “You understand, don’t you?”

Leona patted his shaky hand. “Of course I do. So, when did you talk to the guy in the flannel shirt?”

Danny wiped his arm across his mouth to clean off the crumbs. “I finished the shelves and got comfy on the chair in your office. I must have passed out, but I don’t know what time it was. I woke up before the sun came up. Everything was quiet and I decided I was sober enough to drive home. When I walked out, the guy grabbed my arm, said he wanted to wait and see if Annie showed up and would I let him in.” Danny rubbed the sweat off his forehead. “Don’t be mad at me, but I let him in. He said he had something real important to tell Annie. He acted kind of desperate.”

“It’s good of you to help a stranger.” Leona glanced at Annie who listened intently. “Annie wants to find out what happened to him. She was the first one here in the morning and found him slumped over, dead in that booth.” Leona pointed to the window booth, the seat with the best view of the lake.

“I wish I had more information to help you but I can’t remember anything else. I’ll go hang the sign now.”

Annie waited until Danny left the café before she asked Leona, “Do you think he could have killed Max and not remember it?”

Leona stared out the window. “That crossed my mind too. When he came back from Iraq he was a mess. When he’s sober he wouldn’t hurt a fly, but when he’s drunk? Who knows what goes on inside his head, and he doesn’t remember those times.”

“Uh oh,” Annie said as Detective Jaffrey entered. She turned her back to him and whispered to Leona, “I saw something in Danny’s toolbox that looked like it could be used as a weapon.”

“Good morning, ladies. It smells like you’re cooking up a storm in here. Anything for sale yet? Maybe a cup of coffee and one of those extra-large blueberry muffins?”

Leona winked at the handsome detective. “Well, since you asked so nicely, I’ll be happy to fix you up. How do you take your coffee?”

“A little cream and sugar is fine.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet.

“Don’t be silly. Put your money away. Today, coffee is on the house. Tomorrow we’ll be open for business and you can pay then.” She set a mug in front of him and a plate with a warm muffin.

“Thank you. Everything quiet this morning?” He turned his head to the sound of drilling from the hallway. “Well, quiet as in nothing unusual happening?”

Annie started to move the book boxes around, unpacking and placing the contents on the new shelves. “Should I do this in any particular order?”

“The sign says this is a café. What are you doing with all the books?”

Annie felt her face heat up slightly. She hoped people weren’t going to think this was a dumb idea. “We’re offering books for free with the request that if you take one, you leave one. A freebrary.” She crossed her fingers hoping he would understand her new word.

A smile spread across his face. “What a great idea. Did you come up with that yourself?”

Annie saw Leona laughing as she kept an eye on the interaction. “I guess I did. You like it?”

“Yeah. It’s brilliant. Can I make a suggestion?”

“Sure.”

“Organize them alphabetically by author. Many people like to read all the books from one author, so you might as well make it easy for them to find what they like.”

“I was thinking that too. I’ll work on this for a little while, then get back to the food prep, okay Leona?”

“It all has to get done today before we leave. I don’t want to open tomorrow with all those boxes of books in the way.” She moved back to her prep area, wiping the counter and getting new ingredients out. “I’m starting on the cupcakes for the decorating booth tomorrow.”

Danny came back into the café and set his tool box down at his feet. “I’m all done with the sign, Leona. Is there anything else you need me for today?”

“I think that’s the last project. Give me the bill and I’ll write you a check.”

Danny slid an invoice across the counter.

Leona scanned the bill. “Are you kidding? You didn’t charge enough.”

“I feel guilty for letting that guy in the other night, so I took a little off the bill.” He shuffled from one foot to the other.

Detective Jaffrey’s face turned hard and serious. “What guy?”

Leona quickly introduced Danny to Detective Jaffrey.

“Um. The night before last. A guy in a flannel shirt. I never saw him around here before. I was finishing the shelves for Leona,” Danny explained, obviously growing more and more nervous.

Detective Jaffrey stood up, leaning on the counter. “Mind if I take a look in your tool box?”

“Why would you want to do that?”

Detective Jaffrey stared at Danny, then down at the tool box with his eyebrows raised. “My dad’s a carpenter. I like tools.”

“I guess it’s okay.” Danny slid the box away from his feet and flipped the top open.

Detective Jaffrey bent down closer. “You take good care of your things. Nicely organized. Clean.” He pointed to the tool Annie had noticed before. “When’s the last time you used this awl?”

“Not too recently.”

Detective Jaffrey used a napkin to carefully pick up the awl. Holding it, he inspected it closely. “This one wasn’t cleaned like your other tools.” He pointed to something dark on the sharp tip. “Mind if I keep this and find out what this is on here?”

“I always keep my tools clean. I can’t even imagine what that is.” Danny’s eyes widened as he leaned close to get a better look. “Is it dried blood?”

Chapter 9

Detective Jaffrey put the awl in a plastic evidence bag. “What’s the deal with your friend?” he asked Annie after Danny left the café.

Annie noticed his face had lost its tough edge. “I don’t know much about him, what about you, Leona?”

“Danny is an open book kind of guy, a sweetheart, but the drinking is a problem for him.” Leona shrugged. “The way I figure it, he left his tool box here while he worked so someone else could have used that awl and put it back when Danny wasn’t around. Are you going to arrest him? I can’t imagine any kind of motive.”

The dimple formed on Detective Jaffrey’s cheek. “No. Not yet. First, I need to confirm this is the murder weapon. And you have a good point about someone else having access to it. Unless there’s a witness who saw him inside before Annie showed up he’ll remain on the list with the rest of the suspects.”

“You have a list? Who’s on it?”

Detective Jaffrey laughed before finishing the last of his now cold coffee. “I can’t share every detail with you. Thanks for the morning pick me up, I’d better let you two get back to work. I don’t want to get on your bad side because I’m the reason you run out of food tomorrow for the big opening.” He winked, looking more at Annie then at Leona, gave a two finger salute and headed for the door.

Leona fanned her face. “I get overheated just being near that guy. But my radar is sensing he’s attracted to you, Red.”

“You’re so dramatic. You’re overheated because you’ve been baking for several hours already and this place is turning into an oven. Let’s open some windows and let some fresh air in. Hey, Tyler,” Annie said. “Detective Jaffrey just left. You better check out what he found in Danny’s tool box. It could be the murder weapon.”

Tyler hurried out after the detective, offering Annie only a wave of thanks.

Leona already had ingredients out on the counter. “I’ll make us a snack before we get going with the next project. How about a fruit smoothie? I want to make sure my mixture passes your taste test before we start offering it tomorrow.”

Annie cranked open a few windows, letting the mid-morning breeze fill the café. “There are a lot of fishermen out on the lake already. I wonder if they might have seen anything the morning Max was killed,” she said, more to herself than to Leona. The whir of the blender drowned out her words anyway.

“Here you go, one super duper fruitie tootie smoothie.” Leona filled two tall glasses and handed one to Annie.

“Is that really the name?” Annie took a sip. “Ooh, this is yummy.”