Gingerdead Man (The Early Bird Cafe Cozy Mystery Series Book 6) Read online

  “Where was Kiera when you came outside?” Evan asked.

  Kori looked up at his face. She couldn’t read his expression and she suspected he’d been trained to keep a straight face no matter what. “She was inside making muffins,” Kori said in a flat voice. Was he asking if Kiera could have killed Donnie?

  Evan nodded and said, “Thanks. I’ll get your statement written up for you to sign. Give me a few minutes.”

  Kori stepped out of the car and felt the cold for the first time since she’d seen Donnie’s body. It was still before six and the sun had just barely come up over the trees, keeping the temperature just as cold as when she’d walked Ibis.

  She didn’t know what she should be doing while she waited for Evan. She could tell that Zach had plenty to do so he didn’t come and talk to her. And she didn’t think she should go near the police tape, so she stayed where she was, just outside of the police car.

  In the sudden downtime, she had time to think and she found it impossible to stop herself from thinking about Donnie. She’d only met him a few months ago, but what she knew of him made this whole incident all the more shocking. She saw him in the early morning, every other Wednesday, and he always had a smile on his face. Either he was an extreme morning person or that was just his demeanor. She never interacted with him any other time of day so she would never know.

  If he had been always happy, she thought that must mean he had a good life. And if he had a good life, then he wouldn’t surround himself with people who would want him dead. Could this have been a completely random shooting?

  Where did the truck end up? Could Donnie’s employer be the actual target—Aunt Addie’s Red Barn Foods? Did the killer just need to get Donnie out of the way to get to the truck?

  Kori shook her head and realized suddenly that Evan was standing outside of the driver’s side of the car. “If you’ll check over your statement and sign it, you’ll be all set here,” he said.

  They both got back into the car and Kori read her statement on his tablet. Everything was as she’d told him and made it clear that she didn’t know anything about what happened. Other than that Donnie was dead.

  She signed on the tablet using a digital attachment like those used for credit card purchases and handed it back. “If you think of anything else, don’t hesitate to give me a call. Or let Zach know,” Evan said and handed her a card.

  “Of course.” Kori nodded, took the card and left the car.

  She glanced back to where Donnie now lay in a body bag and walked inside the café where the first customers were trickling in. She knew they were whispering, speculating, wondering what happened this morning in the back parking lot but she pretended she knew nothing and just started taking orders and preparing food while Kiera spoke with Evan.

  One particularly curious woman, sitting with three of her friends, finally asked Kori directly, “What happened? I tried to park out back and everything was taped off.”

  Kori wasn’t sure if she should feign ignorance to such a direct question when no one would believe she had no clue about what happened right behind her café. So she tried to be as vague as possible. “I’m not sure. I just spoke with the police but they’re not offering any information.” Kori knew she hesitated, but she didn’t know this woman so she hoped she hadn’t detected it. “Can I get you some coffee or tea? Or we have hot cider and gingerbread lattes on special today for the holiday.” Kori wanted to steer the conversation back into neutral territory.

  The woman seemed to consider her options for a few moments and then settled on a latte and granola for breakfast. Kori took the rest of the orders and was happy to be able to return to the refuge of the kitchen.

  Kiera returned from outside and happily reported that she and Kori were not on the suspect list. “We confirmed each others’ alibis and our stories were consistent,” she said, beginning an order of gingerbread pancakes.

  “Great,” Kori replied, filling a tray with muffins, lattes, ciders, casseroles and granola for the table with the curious woman. She hadn’t even considered that she might be a suspect, but was still relieved to know that she wasn’t.

  CHAPTER 3

  By seven, The Early Bird Café teemed with customers and the wait for a table was longer than any day previously. Kori suspected the weather caused plenty of delays at work and everyone was taking advantage of the slower morning. Parking didn’t seem to be a problem but Kori couldn’t think of where all of the cars might be.

  Kori’s morning was now anything but slow. She and Kiera were up to their eyeballs in orders of gingerbread pancakes, the definite favorite of the day. They flipped them as fast as they could and still seemed to barely keep up.

  The lattes also caught the eyes of those waiting for tables. Kori brought another tray full of gingerbread lattes to the crowd inside the door and was overwhelmed with conversation.

  Mel Styles, owner of The Treasure Chest consignment shop across the street, was waiting for a table with Anita Price, Kori’s mother’s favorite spin and yoga instructor at the rec center up the road. Both must have cancelled work that morning.

  “I can’t believe how many people are here. This is great for business Kori,” Mel said, brushing some windblown snow from the dark curls below her hat. “I couldn’t drag myself out of bed until I heard the plow go by, and by then it didn’t make sense to open until I came in for a hot breakfast.” She laughed at her own joke.

  “How’s business for Christmas anyway?” Kori asked her. She suspected most people shopped at department stores this time of year rather than at The Treasure Chest.

  “Slow.” Mel took a sip of her latte and her eyes widened. “You need to offer this more often. It’s delicious. Anita, you should try this.”

  “I made some with skim milk, just in case,” Kori said, winking in Anita’s direction.

  Anita happily picked up a whipped cream covered latte made with whole milk and plenty of cream. “I can indulge every once in a while. I’ll pedal extra hard at the next spin class.”

  Anita was as thin as a twig from all of the classes she taught and Kori didn’t think one latte would affect her at all. Not the way it would affect everyone else, anyway. Kori knew how many calories and how much fat were in the lattes and she steered clear of them as often as her self control allowed.

  Kori moved on to a second group of customers waiting for a table and spotted her brother, Jay.

  “Hey. The auto body’s not open today either? Is the café the only place that didn’t close with the snow?” she teased her older brother. Jay worked at the Hermit Cove Auto Body with Spencer Graff and Kyle Rhodes. She would have been surprised if it was closed since plenty of people were probably still driving on their summer tires and the auto body would be bursting at the seams trying to get everyone into safe cars for the winter.

  “Power’s out,” Jay said matter of factly. Conversation had never been his strong suit.

  He took a latte from the tray and Kori continued making the rounds. She checked on every table, refilling coffees, taking credit cards and leaving checks while Kiera barely managed to keep up in the kitchen.

  By eleven o’clock, the orders kept coming and Kori noticed Zach and Lani walk in together. She smiled hopefully, thinking she might get a moment or two alone with Zach. She glanced around the diner and saw all twenty seats still occupied and knew her conversation with him would probably be limited to taking his order.

  She walked out of the kitchen anyway and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. He stayed by the door and she could feel the cold on his jacket despite the sun shining after the full force of the snowstorm.

  “You’re all done out back?” she asked.

  Zach looked around before answering. “Yeah. We took all the tape down so you can have your parking lot back.”

  Kori was surprised. She thought maybe they were done for the morning but would be back later. “That was fast.”

  “There wasn’t much for us to find. You must have been one of the fir
st places Derek plowed. If he’d waited, we would have found more footprints but we came away with only a couple.”

  Kori noticed Zach didn’t look happy. She realized how early his morning had been and thought he probably hadn’t eaten breakfast. “Let me get you something to eat. You too, Lani,” she offered the detective who had been silently waiting for what she probably thought was a personal conversation to end.

  Lani’s eyes brightened and she said, “Thanks.”

  Kori led them to the kitchen where she found two stools for them to sit on out of the way while she and Kiera got back to work. “Breakfast casserole and toast?” she asked them. That would be easiest for her. She didn’t have toast on the menu but would be happy to add it for Zach and Lani.

  They both nodded. “And something warm to drink,” Zach requested.

  Kori filled two mugs with hot apple cider and brought them over before filling two plates with plenty of food for each of them. Then she got to work near them so she could ask questions about what they’d found. She was dying of curiosity now that the shock of finding Donnie had passed.

  “Any leads on who killed Donnie?” she asked while both of them chewed their food. That gave Kori a chance to read their reactions.

  Lani remained focused on her meal, deferring to Zach. He rolled his eyes slightly and Kori knew he didn’t want her investigating. “Not really. There wasn’t much there besides boot prints. But those were even mostly obscured because of the wind and the plow.”

  Kori nodded. She hadn’t thought about where they might even start looking for clues. “What about Donnie’s truck? Did you find that?”

  “Not yet. And don’t go searching for it,” he cautioned, pointing his fork in Kori’s direction to emphasize his warning.

  Kori waved her spatula flippantly. “Of course not.” She let the warning hang in the air a little longer before asking her next question. “Do you think Donnie was the real target?”

  This seemed to catch Lani’s attention because she looked up, suddenly ignoring the food that had kept her focus until then. “What makes you ask that?”

  “Well,” Kori knew she should tread carefully, “if someone wanted to take out Donnie, why not do it in a less public place? Could the killer have actually been going after Aunt Addie’s Red Barn Foods?”

  Zach and Lani chewed slowly, clearly thinking about what Kori had said. “I suppose it’s possible,” Zach said. “But a long shot. We’ll keep that in mind, but any leads heading toward Donnie will take priority.”

  Kori decided to change the subject. “Can I bring in the dolly with my boxes of supplies now?”

  “Oh yeah, I brought them in for you. They’re next to the back door,” Zach said between bites.

  Kori glanced behind her and saw that all of her boxes were neatly stacked inside the back door. “Thanks,” she said, smiling. She was glad to have the boyfriend she did.

  Zach and Lani finished their food and thanked Kori for feeding them. “This cider—” Lani held up her glass. “Wow! This is delicious, and I know cider. My family used to make it every fall with the windblown apples from the few trees in their backyard. But this is even better.”

  Kori blushed and smiled to herself. Compliments on her food and drink were better than any other kind of compliment. “Thanks. Want to take some with you?”

  Lani hesitated only a moment before agreeing and Kori filled a to-go cup with as much cider as would fit. Kori was glad that after Jay broke Lani’s heart over the summer, she and Lani were able to smooth over their relationship since she worked with her boyfriend. It would have made for many uncomfortable social encounters if Lani still held something against her.

  With Zach gone, Kori made more rounds in the dining area, switching off with Kiera every so often. She was surprised that even at closing time the café was still full. For the first time in months, Kori turned customers away when she locked the front door. She didn’t like having to do that, but to maintain any kind of sanity, it was sometimes a must.

  She and Kiera didn’t get the last dish into the dishwasher until after two and Kori was completely wiped.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Kiera said cheerfully and left. Kori sat down and nibbled on a leftover gingerbread mocha muffin, almost too tired to eat.

  She wanted nothing more than to take Ibis for a walk—which would almost definitely be another short one—and curl up in sweats with a good book. But she couldn’t shake the idea that Donnie wasn’t the target. Things just didn’t add up. He was such a good person, why would someone want him dead?

  She didn’t have time to think about other possibilities because Jenna knocked on the front door with four toddlers, ready to make gingerbread houses.

  CHAPTER 4

  “Hi Kori,” Jenna greeted her with a smile as she shuffled through the door, ushering the four kids in her command inside. She was now eight months pregnant and Kori couldn’t believe she was still running her home daycare.

  “Hi Jenna. And who are your adorable little friends?” Kori asked, squatting down to greet the kids.

  “This is Mindy,” Jenna started.

  “I thought she looked familiar. Jan Collins’ granddaughter.” Jan and Gale were best friends and Kori recently met her grandkids when she brought them to the café for breakfast.

  Jenna took off Mindy’s jacket and hung it over a chair. “Yup. And her brother, Max—Max, where are you?”

  Kori remembered meeting both kids right before Thanksgiving and Max was the vocal one so she wasn’t surprised he’d already made himself at home in the café. He came out from under a table and Kori laughed. Jenna didn’t think it was funny, or at least she didn’t laugh and encourage the behavior.

  “Let’s get your coat off, Mister,” she said in a stern voice. She turned back to Kori and continued. “And these are Emily and Jasmine.”

  “So Max is the lucky boy in a class of only girls,” Kori teased.

  “Well, it’s not always this mix. A lot of families are out of town already, or taking time off, so there are fewer kids coming to my house. Which is fine by me. All I want to do is give them nap time so I can sit down.”

  Kori studied Jenna’s round face that looked exhausted. “Why don’t you take a seat and I’ll get things organized. It was mobbed in here this morning so I closed a little later than usual. I’m not quite ready. How about cider for the kids? And something decaf for you?”

  Jenna shook her head. “I want caffeine today. Just a little.”

  Kori was skeptical but Jenna was the pregnant one so she went into the kitchen while Jenna finished getting coats and boots off the kids. She filled a tray with ciders, a latte and plenty of cookies so she could keep the kids distracted and get out all the gingerbread house supplies.

  “Cookies!” Max shouted as soon as Kori emerged from the kitchen. “This is why I love it here.” He’d made some similar comment last month when he’d come for breakfast and Kori smiled at another glowing review from the four year old.

  “Cookies and cider. You need to sit in a chair if you’re going to eat a snack,” Jenna instructed them. Kori left the tray on a table and let Jenna deal with feeding them before she went back into the kitchen.

  Her next tray was loaded with premade gingerbread houses held together with frosting, more candy than she normally bought in a whole year, and plenty more frosting. There were ten houses, just in case, and she brought out six so she and Jenna could make some too. They were going to be displayed at the library for Friday night’s cookie exchange and then the kids would be able to take them home.

  Kori was shocked to find the four kids eating quietly and Jenna completely relaxed in her own chair when she walked back out to the dining area. She had no idea how Jenna managed that so quickly.

  “So I saw some activity out back this morning,” Jenna said, being as vague as possible to keep the kids in the dark.

  Kori nodded.

  “What happened?”

  Spelling almost every other word to avoid
the kids overhearing anything about a murder and asking their parents questions about it, Kori explained about finding Donnie Reynolds dead in her parking lot.

  “Someone s-h-o-t him?” Jenna asked. “And you didn’t hear anything?”

  Kori shook her head wondering if she would have heard something if the door had been open. But it was far too cold for that. “You know him?” Kori asked.

  “Not well. Kyle knows him better. He’s worked on the trucks for Aunt Addie’s before. Some custom design or something.”

  With custom work done, Kori wondered if the truck had been the real target, rather than Donnie or the company. If the truck had been modified, maybe someone was after that. To kill someone to get to it? That seemed extreme.

  The kids finished eating and Kori cleaned up their cups and plates, pushed two small tables together and spread out an old sheet as a tablecloth so she wouldn’t have to worry about a big mess. Then they set to work.

  The kids ate at least as much candy as they put on their houses, and Kori thought twice about giving them those cookies. “No naptime today,” Jenna said, laughing, as Max started running across the café.

  “Sorry about that,” Kori said sheepishly. She didn’t spend enough time with kids to know their sugar limits.

  “Not a problem. Their parents are the ones who will have to deal with the sugar crashes. And they kind of expect it this time of year.”

  By the time they were all finished, it was nearly four o’clock and the floor beneath the table looked like the aftermath of a candy tornado. The four kids’ houses were a mess of frosting, gumdrops, M&Ms, candy canes and other confections, while Jenna’s and Kori’s houses showed some sort of realism. The shingles were made of chocolates, there were marshmallow snowmen in the yard and green gumdrops lined the walkway to the front door for plenty of bushes.

  Jenna wrote each child’s name on an index card and Kori set all six houses aside to harden and dry. She would keep them on display for the next two days and then move them to the library Friday afternoon for the cookie exchange.