Molly thanked her and told her she would keep her updated on the café’s progress as well as her relationship with Beau. She was all smiles when she left.
Willow returned to her bread and cinnamon rolls. She had everything prepared for Janie for the next morning. She yawned and looked at her watch. She couldn’t wait to cuddle up with Clover.
Chapter 16
Willow stepped up to her front porch and immediately heard Clover barking. She nearly had her key to the keyhole when she noticed the door was slightly ajar. She was certain she didn’t leave it that way. She looked around and didn’t see Embry’s vehicle. Not that she would leave the door open. Nor would she forget to shut it if she had come out for something. At least Willow didn’t think so.
She pulled out her phone and texted Steve. She didn’t even know if Steve texted, but if the intruder was still in the house, she wanted to be as quiet as possible and perhaps catch them in the act. She pulled out her Taser then pushed the door farther open.
Clover was barking non-stop. She was kenneled but if she had been loose, they wouldn’t have gotten in the door. She peeked around the corner. Nothing amiss in the living room area. She could see as far as the kitchen and there was no movement. She ventured farther into the house and tiptoed down the hall, listening for any out of place sounds. Nothing.
She opened the bedroom doors, one at a time. Still nothing. And nothing seemed out of place. She could rule out a robbery. Her television was still in place as was her laptop.
Willow checked her own room last. Bed was askew, but that was how she left it. She looked in her walk in closet, nothing messed up there. Next she checked her bathroom, just in case the person was hiding out waiting to attack. No one in sight. But, whoever it was had left a clear message on the bathroom mirror. “Stop. Or you’re next!” She let Clover out of her kennel and the dog went crazy running around through the house, sniffing everything in sight.
Willow heard tires and saw headlights shine through her living room window. Must be Steve. She went to the front door and watched as he jogged to her front door.
“Are you okay? I tried to call you, but you didn’t answer. You scared me to death.”
“I’m fine.”
“Why did you go in there? You should have waited for me.”
“Clover was barking like a mad woman and I wanted to catch them in the act.” She held up her Taser. “Besides, they would have been hurting if they had still been in here. I have to move getting my concealed carry up on my to-do list. Seriously.”
“I take it they are long gone?”
Willow nodded her head and pet Clover. The dog rubbed her head against Willow’s leg.
“Well, is anything missing?”
“Nope, not that I can tell.”
“What did they want?” He looked around the open area. “Doesn’t look too messed up in here. They weren’t searching for hidden treasure.”
She beckoned him to follow her. “Come on, I’ll show you.”
She allowed him to enter her bathroom and watched his reaction.
“Willow, you are making someone very uncomfortable.” He called the office and two officers were on their way to gather finger prints and look for any evidence that might have been hiding.
Together they went to the kitchen and she started to heat up the cinnamon rolls she brought home. “Eat supper yet?”
“No, but I’d rather you not doing anything in here until my guys have a look around. Why don’t you and Clover come with me? We’ll grab a sandwich. Give my guys some time to work without three extra people underway.” He went back to the bathroom. “Willow, I’ve never seen you wear lipstick. Is this written in yours?”
“Nope, it sure isn’t. I’m a gloss kind of girl. That could only have come from the intruder. Who I’m also thinking is our murderer.”
“Glad to know we’re thinking alike.”
Willow gathered up Clover’s leash and a few treats and a couple plastic bags, just in case. She waited by Steve’s truck as he led his officers through her house and showed them the message. It wasn’t but a few minutes later Steve was opening her door for her and they were driving toward town.
Chapter 17
The next morning Willow’s phone rang early. Earlier than she wanted to be getting up. She looked at the caller id. Janie. It would figure.
She put her on speaker. “What do you want?”
“Good morning to you too.”
“What’s so good about it?”
“Do you have your newspaper yet? There is something you’re going to want to see on page nine.”
Willow yawned. “And this something couldn’t have waited an hour or two?”
“Willow, get up and get your paper.”
“Okay, I’m up. Sheesh. I’ll call you back in a little bit.”
She brushed her teeth, let out the dog, and started the coffee pot before opening her newspaper. The older generation still received a paper. The younger generation got all their news from Yahoo. She was in the middle and did a little of both.
She unwrapped the cinnamon roll and put it in the microwave. While that was heating, she poured herself a cup of coffee, added a little cream, then sat down at the dinette set with her breakfast and the newspaper. Just as she turned the pages, the dog started barking to be let in.
Willow let Clover in and noticed she had something in her mouth. “Hey girl, what do you have there?” She took the item from the dog’s mouth. It was a piece of cloth. A torn piece of cloth. Like someone had been running through the yard in the dark didn’t see the bush and ended up in a tango. “Huh, I wonder who lost part of their pants.” She examined the bright pink sweat material. It matched the lipstick on her mirror. “Who would wear bright pink to break into someone’s house?”
She put the cloth in a zip up baggie and settled at the table with her coffee and cinnamon roll. She deeply breathed in the scent of cinnamon emanating from warm confection. The butter she spread on top was melting and oozing its way down into the layers. She put the roll to her lips and her phone rang, again. She closed her eyes and counted to three.
She answered with a slight attitude. “What?”
“Um, hi. Did I interrupt something?”
Steve. She sighed. “No, just trying to ingest five hundred calories of cinnamon goo and it’s not going so well. Not for a lack of trying though, trust me.” She sipped her coffee. Thank goodness that was acceptable phone etiquette.
“I just called to see how you’re doing this morning, after last night’s episode.”
“Besides lacking my much needed eight hours, and being awoken from a particularly lovely dream, and since I’m going to have to reheat this cinnamon roll for the second time and it’s going to be rubber by the time I get to it, I’m good. How are you?”
He chuckled. “You really aren’t a morning person, are you?”
“And what gave you that idea?” She popped a piece of roll in her mouth and didn’t care if she chewed in his ear. She was eating the darn cinnamon roll.
He just laughed. “Well, I guess I better get back to work.”
She almost forgot to tell him about Clover’s find. “Hey, Clover was out for her morning constitutional and came across some fabric caught in our bush out back. I’m thinking someone tried to cross my backyard in the dark and lost a little something from their pants. I put it in a storage baggie. I could bring it in to town when I go to the shop.”
“I’m just around the corner from your house. Why don’t I stop by and pick it up?”
“Okay, suit yourself. Coffee is on. You’ll have to fight me for the cinnamon roll, though.”
“See you in a few.”
She finally opened the newspaper to page nine. There on the right hand side was a picture of Annabelle, the new food columnist, taking Delonda’s place. Willow’s mouth dropped. “You have got to be kidding me?”
Willow took her time reading through the article. Looked like Anna
belle was trying to pick up where Delonda left off, with a review of a local eatery. It wasn’t exactly scathing like Delonda’s reviews, but it wasn’t positive either. She had also included a recipe for her favorite chocolate caramel peanut bars. Just a sample of the recipes that were to come.
Willow shook her head. Molly was reopening her café. She and Beau were dating now. Richard was investing in the re-opening. And just because Molly said she didn’t murder Delonda didn’t mean she was innocent. Like a murderer would tell the truth. Then there was Annabelle, who not two weeks later already had an article in the paper taking Delonda’s place as their resident food columnist. And just because pink was the intruder’s color of choice didn’t mean that neither Richard nor Beau was Delonda’s killer. They weren’t cleared yet. Not in Willow’s book.
The knock at the window brought her to the present and she rose to answer. Clover was already barking. “What a good girl.” Willow patted her head then opened the door for Steve. “Come on in.”
He pet the dog then followed Willow back to the kitchen area.
She held up the paper. “Did you see this?”
He shook his head. “No, what is it?”
Willow showed him the article and told him about Molly’s visit. In the aftermath of the prior evening’s break in, she had forgotten to tell him about everything she learned. She ended up giving him the second cinnamon roll and sending him on his way. She had a hunch, and she had to do some research before she knew whether or not she was on the right track.
Chapter 18
Willow watched every vlog post Delonda ever put on her YouTube channel. Every. Single. One. That was a lot of Delonda. A lot more than Willow ever wanted to see. She went all the way back to the very first one.
When her phone rang, she answered it without looking at who was calling. “Did you get my message?”
She looked at the screen. The number had been blocked. “Who is this?”
Obviously the caller was trying to disguise their voice. It almost sounded like the horse whisperer on the other end. “Hello, did you say something? I can barely hear you?”
Again the caller spoke softly. “Did you get my message?”
“What? What did you say? You’re going to have to speak up?” Willow was trying not to laugh. If the situation wasn’t so serious she would have.
Finally the caller screamed. “Did you get my message?”
“Oh, it’s you. I was wondering who was whispering in my phone. I’m getting older. The old hearing is going, ya know? Do you mean the message on my mirror? Yeah, I got it.”
“Good. It would pay for you to heed the message. Stop snooping. Or you’re next.”
The click on the other end signified the caller had ended their conversation. She set her cell phone down. The murderer has my personal phone number? Now things were starting to become clear. Willow had a bit of a road trip to take. She called Janie at the shop. “Can you handle things for a little bit? I need to run an errand.”
“Yeah, sure. Thanks for getting the bread and rolls done last night.”
“No problem. I know I’ve been pre-occupied and I really appreciate all the time you’ve been putting in at the shop.”
“Hey, what’s more important? Catching a murderer or baking a few pans of brownies? Oh, and I have to tell you Cookie stopped in the shop this morning. She said she is going to have to resign from her baking duties. She is going to be helping Molly out at the café and won’t have time to do both. Not with working the lunch periods at the high school.
“Okay, we’ll figure it out. I’m sure my focus will be where it needs to be soon. I can probably pick up the extra slack or we can find someone else who might be interested.”
Willow needed to think. She needed to set everything aside and just get into her own mind. She grabbed a bottle of water and set off on foot. Exercise wouldn’t hurt either. She always thought best on her feet.
One by one she went over each suspect. She thought about all the vlog posts she had seen and then it hit her. There was one post she didn’t see. One person whose business she knew had been affected by Delonda, who openly admitted to the fact, whose whole fall from grace wasn’t there for the world to see. Why not? She turned and jogged for home. She was out of breath by the time she reached her house. She hadn’t realized she had gone so far. She put Clover on her leash and brought her along for the ride. It might be best to have the dog with her anyhow. For protection and all that. Then she patted her purse which held her handy Taser.
Her first stop was Delonda’s mother’s house.
She knocked on the door.
“Oh, it’s you again.” She pushed open the screen door then turned and walked in the living room, once again expecting Willow to follow.
Willow sat down on the indicated chair then bulldozed straight ahead. “Ms. Posey, do you happen to know an Annabelle Josephine Butterfield?”
“Why, I sure do. That little girl grew up right next door to us when we lived down on the bad side of town. Course, her name wasn’t all that fancy back then. Just Ann Baker. She went and changed her name when she got all uppity and dropped my little girl as a best friend like a hot potato just come out of the microwave.” She lifted her tea mug to her lips. “I see she done took over my girl’s column in the paper. I didn’t know for sure it was her until I saw her picture, but yeah, that’s Ann Baker. Little white girl growing up next door to us. Her mama and daddy were mean drunks. She always fantasized about being a southern belle. She ain’t no southern belle. If she is, then I’m white.”
Ms. Posey laughed at her own joke and slapped her leg. “I just keep getting funnier and funnier in my old age. I swear I do.” She sobered up. “You think Ann is the one who killed Delonda? They used to be real good friends. Real good. It hurt Delonda bad when Ann decided she was too good for the likes of Delonda. Mmhmm. It sure did. After that I lost track of the girl. Course, I didn’t know she went and changed her name.”
“Ms. Posey, do you remember what they fought about?”
“Oh girl, I forgot all about that. Now that you mention it, I do remember. Delonda accused Ann of trying to kill her. She gave her some chocolate she made and put peanuts in it. Ann knew Delonda was deathly allergic to peanuts. She didn’t care. Delonda had started to make a name for herself and Ann was jealous. She had always been a jealous girl. And so full of herself. She thought the sun and moon rose because of her. Full of herself, I say.” She swallowed hard. “My girl didn’t do much better. But I don’t think she up and killed nobody. She did ruin quite a few people’s lives though. She said it did them good. Leveled out the playing field, so to speak. All those restaurant owners who never had to work hard for what they got. I tried to tell her, not everybody’s rich. And not all rich people think they’re God’s gift to the world. But she wouldn’t listen. That girl was hard headed. Had to do things her way. Her way got her killed.”
“Oh, Ms. Posey. I wish you would have come to the commemorative chili cook-off, I really wish you had. You could have revealed Annabelle’s true identity and we’d be finished with all of this ugly business.”
“Honey, I wasn’t gonna go to some dinner where everyone attending was glad she was gone. I didn’t even like her sometimes, but she was my baby and I loved her. I wasn’t ready to be around that kind of crowd.”
Willow told her once again how sorry she was then said goodbye. She called Steve from the phone and told him to meet her at Annabelle’s.
Chapter 19
Willow’s phone buzzed. She peeked. It was Steve. She decided it was best not to answer. He left a voice mail then he texted. “Wait for me. Do not go by yourself. I repeat, wait for me.”
She patted Clover’s head. “I’m not by myself, am I girl?” She ignored the text. What if she takes off? What if she’s on her way out of town and we miss her? I can’t wait. Besides, Steve will be there soon enough. She can’t do too much damage before he gets there.
Willow pulled u
p in front of the two story home. Annabelle had sure found a way to pull off the whole southern belle part. The house was located on the outside edges of the big city, nearly to Turtle. She even had the house with the white pillars going on. Willow shook her head. “I’d rather be a Yankee then pretend I’m something I’m not.”
She watched the house for any sign of movement. Annabelle’s car was parked in the driveway. Willow patted her purse, thankful for her Taser. A gun would have been better but, she had to make do with what she had. Besides, if she shot the woman it might not look too good. Willow opened her car door just as the front door to Annabelle’s house opened. Annabelle was pulling a suitcase behind her.
“Ah ha!” Willow got out and waved to her, hoping she looked friendly and not accusatory. “Annabelle, hi, I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop by and say, hi.” Even to Willow’s ears the excuse sounded lame. Why didn’t she practice something better than that? Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Once again, she ignored it. She bounced up the walk.
“You going on a trip?”
Annabelle’s eyes darted up and down the street. “Yeah, my mama is sick so I’m going to Savannah to spend some time with her. Just until she gets better.”
Willow nearly rolled her eyes at the lie but caught herself. “I’m so sorry. I hope she’s gonna be okay.”
“I’m sure she’ll be right as rain. We southern women are made of sturdy stock. She won’t be down long.” She cocked her head as if in thought. “So, what are you doing in my neighborhood anyway?”
As soon as she asked the question Willow heard Clover barking. She had left her window down far enough the dog could get out, just in case Annabelle pulled something crazy and Willow needed Clover’s help. What she didn’t count on was Clover remembering Annabelle from the break in.
Clover was standing next to Willow with her fur raised and her teeth bared. Willow was trying to get her to settle down so she wouldn’t blow her cover. She should have known Annabelle would figure it out.
“So, what gave me away?”