Thirteen

“What are we going to do now?” Dawn was sitting at my small kitchen table, drinking a cup of coffee. She was waiting for me to get dressed.

“I’m going to call Hank to see if they are finished with Nadine’s camper, so I can get you over there to stay while you are here.” I pulled my curly hair back into a low ponytail. There was no time to fool with it today. I had to get in touch with the girls from The Laundry Club and call an emergency meeting. “Then, I have to work.”

After Hank had taken Abby to the station with him, other officers had showed up at the campground to go through Nadine’s camper. The rental car wasn’t there, and I wondered if Valerie had skipped town. The police were still over there.

“What is your plan?” I asked her, making sure she knew I wasn’t going to be stuck with her. There was something odd about her and my gut tugged when I went to tell her something but stopped. That was a sign for me to just let this thing play out with her. My gut was never wrong. Plus, Fifi was still standoffish with her.

“I’m going to go to the morgue. First thing.” Dawn patted her shin to try to get Fifi to come to her, but gave up after a couple of tries.

“You’re going to drive that motorcycle around?” I asked.

“It’s all I got.” She shrugged. “I might call an Uber or something.”

“Let me see if I can get you a ride into town.” Even though I didn’t trust her, it wasn’t in my nature to let her drive on the dangerous roads. It was slick out there. “I can always get you a ride back.”

“Thanks. I noticed everything is pretty close together, so I can walk around. No biggie.” She sent my inner alarm off.

When I called her, she sounded asleep. It was also dark out. When did she see downtown in the light? There was something that didn’t feel right about this girl.

“Bobby Ray, can I ask you a favor?” I had called him since I knew he’d be driving into downtown where the morgue was located, along with all the other businesses. “I need you to drop someone off at the morgue on your way to work.”

Bobby Ray told me that Mary Elizabeth had kept him up half the night gabbing on and on about the murder and how she was going to help me solve it. Then he agreed to take Dawn. The best news was that Mary Elizabeth was still sound asleep, which meant the faster I got out of the campground, the better.

It was perfect timing too. Bobby Ray was leaving right then. Once he and Dawn were off, I gave Fifi kibble and some treats to tide her over for a few hours.

Quickly, I sent a text to the girls at The Laundry Club, telling them to meet me as soon as possible to discuss Abby’s situation. With my notebook in hand, I was out the door in no time.

Dottie texted back to let her know what was going on when we found something out since she had to work at the Happy Trails office this morning. Everyone was going to need time to get ready and it would take even some more time to get to the laundromat driving in the snow.

We were going to need something to wake us up besides coffee and that meant a yummy sweet treat from The Cookie Crumble Bakery. It was exactly what we needed to get our sleuthing caps on and get our little investigation underway.

“Mae, good morning,” Christine Watson, owner of the Cookie Crumble Bakery, greeted me as soon as I walked through the door.  Her bubbly personality was infectious. It was her calling to bake donuts and all the other fun pastries because she put people in happy moods first thing in the morning when they came in to get their morning treat. “Did you try those candy cane donuts I sent over this morning?”

“I didn’t.” I eyeballed the delish looking pastry that was festive to look at.

“Here. Try a sample.” Christine pointed to a silver platter of samples on top of one of the bakery counters.

The little toothpicks stuck in them were a mix of red, and green, and white, all the colors of Christmas. It was the small touches that made everything in Normal’s shops feel so special.

“Gosh. This is amazing.” I had to refrain from grabbing all the samples. “You are so good.”

“I think it’s because I use as many local ingredients as I can from farmers in the area.” There was a look of satisfaction on her face. She was so humble and that was one of her most endearing qualities. “I get all my eggs and dairy from the dairy farm off Route 44.” She continued to tell me other places where she got her ingredients, but my taste buds were so caught up in the mix of peppermint and sweet glaze, my mind just couldn’t process her words.

“I’d love to have a few to take over to the gals at The Laundry Club this morning.” I walked down the glass counter. My mouth watered at the amazing creations Christine made. “And I’d love it if I could get you to make me enough for the Christmas Dinner at the Campground. About one hundred in total.”

She didn’t make just any donuts. She used her artistic ability to create different designs. She wasn’t afraid to stack different textures on top of each other.

“I’ll take a couple of those s’mores too.” The drizzled chocolate over crumbled graham crackers and marshmallows on top of a glazed donut was calling my name and my thighs. I couldn’t tell if she was processing my request for her to cater the donuts for the dinner.  “The candy cane donuts would be a great dessert for the Christmas dinner.”

“I’d love to make them for free, if you can supply all the dairy needed.” She snapped a glove from the box and put it on her hand. “You can tell Kelli Sergeant how many you want me to make and she’ll get all the ingredients ready for you.”

“Kelly Sergeant?” I questioned.

Even though I’d been living in Normal for a few months now, I still didn’t know everyone who called Normal home. I pretty much stuck to the campground and my girlfriends at the Laundry Club. I knew there were a lot of shops and stores out of the downtown area that I’d yet to explore, and the Milkery Dairy Farm was one of them.

“Yes. She’s the owner of the Milkery.” Christine referred to it by its nickname. “There’s a card in one of the holders over there next to the cash register.”

I walked over there and looked at all the business cards Christine let locals put there for marketing.

“The Milkery Dairy Farm,” I said with a smile and picked up the white card with big black blotches all over it that were supposed to represent cow spots. It was cute.

“I’m sorry to hear about the famous author staying at the campground. It’s a shame too. I was looking forward to getting to know her better.” Christine had a Cookie Crumble Bakery to-go box in one hand and a gloved hand putting my goodies in it with the other.

“You knew her?” I asked, thinking it was strange she mentioned getting to know her better.

“Yesterday, someone from her publishing team came in and got a couple of maple cream long johns. They said she was going to love them, and I gave her my card. She also asked if I did deliveries.” She flipped the sides of the cardboard down on the box and peeled off a Cookie Crumble Bakery logo sticker to seal it. “Since I have my sister deliver your donuts each morning, I didn’t see a problem making a special delivery to her. Especially if she liked them and told her readers about them.” She removed the glove from her hand and tapped her temple. “It’s all about the marketing.”

“Don’t I know. Abby Fawn. . .” I was going to say that Abby was instrumental in getting Happy Trails Campground as popular as it’d become with all her marketing, but I wondered when Valerie Young had come in here when I didn’t see her leave Nadine’s side until after their blow up. According to my timeline, that was later in the day, before my six p.m. date with Hank. “The person who came in here.” I held my hand above my head. “Was she about this tall, lanky, with dishwater brown hair? Sorta greasy?”

“No.” Christine shook her head and handed me the box over the bakery counter. “She had the cutest black pixie cut.”

“What time was this?” I asked knowing it had to be Dawn.

“Around noonish. I know that because I was getting ready to take some of the older donuts out of the case. I distribute them to the homeless shelter, the police station, and the fire department so they don’t go to waste.” She smiled, causing the freckles across her nose to spread along her cheeks. “I do that at lunchtime, so I can put out freshly baked pastries and pies out for the lunch crowd. That’s when I sell the most pies and cakes. You know,” she flip flopped her hand in the air, “customers like to have them for dessert after supper.”

“Yeah.” I wasn’t fully listening to her. I took the notebook out of my purse to write this down under Dawn’s timeline. “Tell me again what she said.”

I scribbled as Christine recalled her interaction with Dawn. It had to be Dawn. She had described her to a tee, including the motorcycle.

“I even told her I’d deliver them since she was driving that motorcycle.” She laughed. “Who ever thought of driving a motorcycle in the snow? I told her she could go to Grassel’s Garage to see if Joel had a car she could rent.”

“What did she say?” I asked.

“She said she didn’t plan on being in town long and left.” Christine’s interaction with Dawn had me on high alert. Why didn’t she tell me? What was Dawn Gentry hiding?

After I paid Christine for the donuts, I decided to walk down to The Laundry Club. There was no sense in trying to find a cleared parking spot since I already had one and The Laundry Club was only a short walk down Main Street.

The snow didn’t seem to bother the tourists. I’d never known people to love hiking so much that they’d strap on snow shoes along with their hiking gear to find the perfect trails in this sort of weather. They were lucky the rangers hadn’t closed down the park since the snowfall hadn’t let up since yesterday morning.

The lampposts along Main Street had garland wrapped around them and the loveliest poinsettias in hanging baskets added the perfect pop of color against the snow. Each hanging basket sported the logo of the Sweet Smell Flower Shop, a perfect way to advertise. I waved at Gert Hobson, the owner of The Trails Coffee Shop, when I noticed she was in the display window adding the finishing touches to the coffee mug Christmas tree she’d cleverly crafted. It was so cute.

The Trails Coffee Shop was another local shop I had an agreement with for Happy Trails Campground. Gert supplied the coffee that was the perfect accompaniment to Christine’s donuts. It was a good way to promote their businesses and when I passed by the coffee shop, I noticed a couple of my hikers inside enjoying a steaming cup of something Gert had to offer.

The Smelly Dog Groomer had their grooming tables all lined up. I had to get Fifi in there for her Christmas haircut and nails. Ethel Biddle tapped on the window to get my attention. Rosco, Fifi’s boyfriend and father of her pups, was sitting next to her. Ethel gave me the telephone sign up to her ear to tell me to call her. She’d been driving me crazy about setting up a play date for the lovebirds. . .er . . .love dogs. I nodded and smiled, heading right past Cute-icles. I tried not to make eye contact with Helen Ryle, who was yammering away at a client sitting in the stylist’s chair, snipping off hair as fast as she talked.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough. Helen pointed to her own orange hair, her bejeweled smock glistening more than the Christmas ornaments she had dangling from the ceiling all over the salon. That woman had more glitter on those ornaments than her nail techs were putting on their clients’ Christmas nails. Glitter and big hair had never gone out of style in Normal.

Downtown was very interesting. Each shop had had its own outdoor courtyard. Today each shop owner had a Christmas tree decorated to match their store’s theme, but during the warmer months, each shop held fun activities each day in their courtyard. It was fun to walk around Main Street when you needed something to do.

I glanced across the street at the Tough Nickel Thrift Shop and Deter’s Feed-N-Seed. Both looked busy. I was glad the snow didn’t stop the tourists from coming. But I wondered if the news about Nadine White, once it got out, would change that.

“Where’ve you been?” Queenie tapped her watch after I pushed through the door at The Laundry Club. She tapped the glass globe in front of her. It was one of those electric globes that sent little lightning bolts to the surface of the glass when you touched it. She was so odd. She liked to scare patrons of the laundromat by acting like she could tell their futures. Her neon green headband and matching neon green bodysuit didn’t help matters.

“What on earth do you have on?” I shook my head as I walked past her to take the donuts back to the table with the half-finished Christmas puzzle Betts was working on.

“I like to wear my Jazzercise one piece as long johns and I don’t look too bad for an old broad.” She slid her hands over the sides of her body and did a little shimmy, following along behind me. “So, I can afford to eat one of those donuts in the Cookie Crumble Bakery box you got there.”

“I’m glad I stopped by because Christine gave me some new information.” I set the box down and took the notebook out of my bag.

“I stopped by to see Abby on my way in. Lester is going to see her this morning too.” Betts picked one of the candy cane donuts and Queenie took one of the s’mores. “Hank said she wasn’t talking.”

“Good. I’ve got Ava Grandy coming to see her this morning. Do you know Colonel Holz?” I asked Betts since she knew everyone in town.

“Yes. He’s a member of the congregation,” she said under a muffled mouthful of donut. “If you came to church every once in a while, you’d know him too.” She couldn’t let that one go without a little dig. “I’m guessing you want to go talk to him about the case.”

“Yeah. I’ve got a few questions about the autopsy.” I was starting to second guess if the knife was the only murder weapon.

“What about it? It seems pretty clear she died from the neck wound,” Queenie said.

“By the looks of it, but I’m wondering if she were poisoned by a donut.” My words made the two of them look at their half-eaten sweet treats and then at each other.

Both shrugged and kept eating.

I opened the notebook to the timeline and notes I’d made on the case and told them about Dawn Gentry coming into town fairly quickly after I called her as the Nadine’s next of kin. They were more interested in Nadine’s real last name than my overnight guest. But when I mentioned she’d been in town longer than she’d disclosed to me and how she’d gotten donuts around noon, that got their attention.

“What’s her name?” Betts took out her phone and typed it in as I rattled it off. “She lives in Chicago and she’s single. She’s a bartender.”

“How do you know all that?” I asked.

“You really need to get on Facebook.” She handed me her phone. “You can learn a lot about someone on there.”

I scrolled through Dawn’s Facebook while they finished eating and the coffeepot Betts brewed finished percolating. There were a few photos of Dawn and Nadine together. There were a couple of comments under a photo from one of Nadine’s book signings.

“I’m thrilled to see you made up,” I read out loud. “This was just a couple of months ago at the release party for Cozy Romance in Christmas. I wonder what this was about.”

I clicked on the person who made the comment and hit the message button.

“What are you doing?” Betts grabbed her phone back.

“I was sending this person a message. I want to know what he is talking about.” I reached for her phone again.

“Get your own Facebook.” Betts’s eyes lowered. “I’m not letting you use mine to investigate. It’s the church’s account. Besides, Lester thinks we need to let the police handle it.”

“If that was the case, Hank would already have Abby in the electric chair for killing Nadine.” I knew something was up with Dawn. There had to be a motive.

“What can we do to help?” Queenie asked.

“I’m going to go right over there and join Facebook. If I send you a screenshot of Dawn’s profile photo you can take the list of all the people from Nadine’s library talk and see if they recognize Dawn.” I knew it was a long shot, and it’d take time, but it sure would help me out. “You did say that everyone at the library bought Tupperware from Abby, right?”

“They did, and I can stop by to see Abby. Kill two birds with one stone. See how she’s doing and ask her where the list is.” Queenie stood up. She did some sort of stretch and trotted off towards the computer Betts kept for the customers of The Laundry Club to use.

I wanted to protest both, but I let her.

“Now, back to Colonel.” I turned to Betts. “How quick do you think you could get me to see him?”

“I guess we could go now. I know he works first thing in the morning.” She took another donut and handed me one.

“Perfect,” I said biting into the donut, talking about it and the fact that Betts could get me to see the Colonel ASAP.