Custom-Made Murder (A Chocolate Centered Cozy Mystery Book 8) Read online

  “Hello there.” A short man with a round face and thinning gray hair smiled at them both. “Anything I can help you with?”

  “We’re interested in getting a ring re-sized.” Charlotte paused in front of the counter and offered him her brightest smile.

  “Well then, you’ve come to the right place. May I see the ring?” He put on a pair of thick frameless glasses and peered through the lenses.

  “Yes, here it is.” Charlotte tugged the ring off her finger and placed it down on the counter. “I’d like to give it to my granddaughter, and I want to make sure that it will fit her. My fingers are much bigger than hers.”

  “Oh, I understand.” He smiled. “Do you know your ring size, young lady?” He glanced over at Ally.

  “No, I’m sorry it’s been a while since I’ve worn one.” Ally did her best to keep up with her grandmother’s ruse.

  “That’s no problem at all. I have this lovely device that will give us your exact size.” He pulled out a box with a bundle of plain metal rings and a ring mandrel. “Just find the one that fits you the best.” He handed her the bundle of rings.

  “Okay, thank you.” She began to slide the rings on to her finger one by one.

  “Aha, getting married are you?” He smiled. “I think it’s wonderful when family members pass on heirlooms.”

  “No, I…”

  “Yes, she is.” Charlotte kicked Ally’s foot lightly with her own. “Something old, you know.” She winked.

  “Oh yes.” He chuckled.

  “We had an appointment scheduled with ‘Dean’s Jewels and Supplies’, but did you hear what happened to him?” She clucked her tongue. “It’s such a tragedy, but of course now we’re in a bind because the wedding is so close.”

  “Yes, it is a tragedy. But I am glad that you came here. I can assure you that the quality of the ring re-sizing will be stellar.”

  “I hope so. We had hoped to use Dean’s designer to create some costume jewelry for the bridesmaids. We just love his work.” Charlotte glanced through the jewelry on display in the glass cabinet. “I guess you don’t have anything of his?”

  “No, I don’t, thankfully. I would not want a murderer’s merchandise in my shop.”

  “Wait, are you saying he’s the one that killed Dean?”

  “He is certainly the main suspect. Would you believe the police even came here and questioned me? But of course, I was here in my shop. I had to be, as my assistant was out on a delivery. So neither of us could have been at Dean’s shop when he was murdered. It was strange to be treated like a suspect, especially when they already know who killed Dean.”

  “Perhaps they are mistaken.” Charlotte pursed her lips.

  “I think I found the right size.” Ally piped up and shot a look of warning at her grandmother. She could tell from the pink in her cheeks and the tone of her voice that she was offended by the way Silvio spoke about Jeff.

  “Wonderful.” Silvio turned his attention to her. “Now I just take the rings and write down the size.” He took the ring from her and jotted down some details. As he was doing that Ally looked at the metal mandrel in the box. Wielded with enough force it could do some serious damage. But as she watched Silvio’s hand tremble when he grasped the bundle of rings she wondered if he would be strong enough to produce that much force. “And now I have your size. So, let me get the paperwork ready for the ring.”

  “Oh actually, we are still shopping around.” Charlotte picked up the ring from the counter.

  “I will make you a great deal.” He raised an eyebrow and smiled.

  “I will keep that in mind. We may want to come back and look at more of your costume jewelry. But this is a once in a lifetime event, we can’t rush into anything.”

  “But I thought you said you were under pressure to get the ring done?” He straightened up and looked from her, to Ally, then back again. “Did I misunderstand?”

  “No, you didn’t, but we still need to think about it.” Ally smiled as she met his eyes. “Perhaps you could give us a quote so we can consider how it fits into our budget.”

  “Yes, I can do that.” He picked up a pen and began to scribble on a pad of paper. “Do you live nearby?”

  “In Blue River actually.” Ally watched the way he grasped the pen as he wrote. There was no hint of the shake she saw before.

  “Oh, that’s perfect. Troy makes deliveries there all the time. To a little jewelry shop, maybe you know it, Jen’s Gems?”

  “Oh yes, Jen.” Charlotte nodded. “She has some beautiful pieces.”

  “She does, most of her collection is from here. But she doesn’t do re-sizing. Here is my estimate for the ring, and please don’t be afraid to contact me if you have any questions.” He handed Charlotte the slip of paper.

  “Thank you for your time.” Ally smiled at him. “I’m sure we’ll be back.”

  “Wonderful, and congratulations on the wedding.”

  Ally bit her tongue as they walked out of the shop.

  “Interesting conversation, wasn’t it?” Charlotte glanced back over her shoulder through the glass door.

  “Getting married? Really Mee-Maw?” She sighed.

  “What? It was the best excuse I could come up with.” She laughed. “He seems like a nice enough man. Or at least he pretends well.”

  “Yes, he does. I’m not sure that he could have murdered Dean. Did you notice how his hands shook?” Ally started to walk towards the car.

  “Yes, I did. But you can’t let that rule him out. Some people play up a role in order to get sympathy from a customer. He may look frail and unassuming while we’re in there, but once we’re gone he might be someone completely different.”

  “I hadn’t even considered that.” Ally shook her head. She was about to open the door to the car when a delivery van pulled into the parking lot. She watched as the van drove towards the back of the store.

  “That must be Troy.” Charlotte’s gaze followed the van as well.

  “Did you notice how muddy the van is? I wouldn’t be impressed by a delivery van that pulled up to my business or home looking like that.”

  “No, I wouldn’t either.” Charlotte opened the car door and settled inside. Ally stuck her head inside.

  “Do you think we should go talk to him? Ask him about the murder?”

  “No, not now. If we start grilling him then Silvio will get very suspicious. We want to be able to come back here and ask more questions if we need to. Besides, we have another way that we can check on Troy’s alibi. We can confirm with Jen, at Jen’s Gems, that Troy made the delivery.”

  “Oh yes, that’s a good idea. Why don’t you give her a call?”

  “I’ll look up her number.” Charlotte placed the call once she found it. She shook her head after the answering machine picked up. “She’s closed today but she’ll be open tomorrow.”

  “Okay, that’s actually a good thing, because right now, we need some lunch, and to regroup.” Ally headed towards Blue River.

  Charlotte was silent for some time, Ally could tell she was lost in thought.

  “Are you okay, Mee-Maw?”

  “Ally, I just keep thinking about Jeff in that horrible place. What will he eat for lunch? Gruel?”

  “Mee-Maw, I don’t think it will be that bad. I’m sure they’ll have a decent meal to offer. But I understand why you’re concerned.” Ally turned down the new highway that led back to Blue River. “Ouch, look at the traffic.” She shook her head as she studied the stream of cars in front of them.

  “Yes, it’s that time of day.” Charlotte glanced at the clock on the dashboard. “Lunchtime rush. Do you think that Brad will file a complaint about us with the Broughdon PD?”

  “I’m not sure, but if he does, we’re going to have to be prepared for it. To be honest I’m surprised that the police haven’t spoken to you about Jeff.”

  “I guess they feel they have enough evidence.” Charlotte frowned. “It’s for the best as I would likely give that detective an earfu
l about his inability to do his job correctly.”

  “Now Mee-Maw, you have to admit if you saw the same evidence stacked against Jeff, you might draw the same conclusion, if you didn’t know him.”

  “That’s not true, Ally.” Charlotte looked over at her. “I’m sure I would look deeper than a possible murder weapon and him being nearby the crime scene. That’s not conclusive evidence.”

  “And the restraining order?” Ally navigated through some traffic and finally turned off the highway on to the main street that ran through Blue River.

  “That’s old news.” Charlotte’s voice lost some of its strength.

  “It may be old news, but it can be relevant, it can indicate a pattern of behavior.”

  “Ally.” Charlotte frowned. “We don’t know what it was even for. Please don’t assume things.”

  “You’re right, I’m sorry.” Ally pulled into the driveway of the cottage. “But you can’t blame me for being protective, can you?” She met her eyes as she turned off the ignition. “You are such a beautiful person, Mee-Maw, and I just don’t want to see anyone hurt you.”

  “I do understand that.” Charlotte squeezed her hand. “But, I’m also my own person, with a few more years of experience on this earth. So please, let me decide whether or not assumptions should be made.”

  “All right.” Ally nodded and offered her a small smile. “I love you, Mee-Maw.”

  “I love you, too.” She kissed her on the forehead, then they climbed out of the car.

  Ally and Charlotte were greeted as usual at the front door by one lively pig and one hungry cat. “Settle down!” Ally huffed as she slipped past them inside the door. They followed her right into the kitchen. “Here, Mee-Maw, why don’t you look over the pictures that I took at Erica’s while I tame these wild animals.”

  “Sure.” Charlotte took the phone Ally offered her, then gave Arnold a good ear rub. “Aw, is your little belly growling.”

  “His little belly is always growling!” Ally laughed. While Ally got the pets some food to eat, Charlotte began to skim through the pictures that Ally took.

  “You did a great job with these pictures, Ally. I was able to get all of the names and phone numbers of recent customers at the shop. I think we should start making some calls to see if anyone noticed anything strange when they were at the shop.”

  “I agree, go for it. I’ll be right in to help.” Ally fought with Arnold to get his food in his bowl without him trying to devour the entire bag. Then she gave Peaches her little dish on the counter. Peaches purred and flicked her tail at her. “Now you be good, Peaches and don’t steal Arnold’s food.” She stroked her hand down the cat’s back, then began to prepare lunch for herself and her grandmother. She walked into the living room with two sandwiches and two glasses of tea.

  “Oh, thank you that looks so good.” Charlotte took her plate and glass from Ally. “I didn’t realize I was so hungry until just now.”

  “You go ahead and eat, I’ll make some phone calls.”

  “This one.” Charlotte pointed to a name on a list she’d written down. “His name is Chris and he was the last customer of the day the day before Dean was killed. It’s a long shot, but maybe he noticed something, or Dean mentioned something to him about being worried.”

  “All right I’ll check it out.” Ally looked at the details. “Chris Rogerstons. Isn’t that the name of our plumber,” Ally said as she walked over to the fridge to look at the plumber’s fridge magnet.

  “Maybe,” Charlotte said. “It sounded familiar, but I couldn’t place it.”

  “It is.” Ally walked back into the living room.

  “That’s good, at least he knows us.” Charlotte smiled.

  “Why would a plumber want jewelry supplies?” Ally dialed Chris’ number. She waited as it rang. Just when she was sure no one would answer, a breathless man picked up the phone.

  “Hello, Chris’ Plumbing?”

  “Hi, is this Chris?”

  “Yes, it is, can I help you?”

  “Hi Chris, my name is Ally Sweet. I don’t know if you remember me, but you fixed the boiler at my cottage a few weeks ago.”

  “Oh, yes. The cottage with the pig.”

  “That’s it,” Ally said with a hint of relief. Maybe it would be easier to get information out of him now.

  “Is there something wrong with it?”

  “Oh no, nothing to do with that, I actually just wanted to see if you could tell me some information about the murder of …”

  “Dean? Are you talking about Dean?”

  “Yes, I am. I need some information and I was wondering if you would mind telling me a little bit about him.”

  “I don’t know, what kind? Why?”

  “Someone has been arrested who I think is innocent and I think you might have been one of the last people to see Dean alive. So, I was wondering if you could offer any information that might help me learn more about him.”

  “All right. Well, I don’t know how much I can help, I was a new customer of his.”

  “Oh? Is this the first time that you needed jewelry supplies?”

  “Actually, I purchased costume jewelry from him, I had some custom-made pieces made there as well. I used to go to Silvio’s but Dean made me such a great offer, I couldn’t turn him down.”

  “So this was your first transaction with him?”

  “Yes, it was. I was very impressed with his selection and when he quoted me the price, I just had to cancel my order with Silvio.”

  “Did you notice anything strange about the shop or Dean when you picked up your order?”

  “No, not at all. He was very personable. He helped me load the boxes into my van and I gave him some tickets to attend the play.”

  “Play?”

  “Yes, plumber by day, amateur play director by night.” Chris laughed. “That’s what I needed the jewelry for.”

  “Sounds interesting.”

  “Yes, it helps me use my creative side.”

  “Was there anyone else at the shop when you were there?”

  “Uh, yes, now that I think about it there was. A man, I think his name was Brad?”

  “Were Dean and Brad talking at all?”

  “When I came in they were. It looked like Brad was taking inventory or something. Anyway, all I can say about Dean is that he was a nice guy and gave me a great deal. I am not sure how that helps.”

  “It does, thanks so much for your time, Chris.” Ally hung up the phone and looked over at her grandmother. “Chris just placed Brad at the shop the night before Dean was killed. He said it looked like Brad was taking inventory.”

  “Interesting. If Dean told him that night that he knew about the secret Brad might have been angry enough to come back the next day and kill him.”

  “Yes, I think you’re right about that.” Ally opened her mouth to say more, when a wild screech silenced her. She turned her head in time to see Peaches charge across the carpet. Arnold tore into the living room after Peaches. He squealed as loud as he could and circled the cat around the couch.

  “Uh oh, Peaches must have tried to steal some of Arnold’s food again.” Ally rolled her eyes as the noise continued. Just then her phone began to ring.

  “Mee-Maw, it’s Luke calling.” She picked up her phone and stepped out of the living room so that she wouldn’t have to compete with Arnold’s squealing.

  “Hi, Luke.”

  “Ally, what have you been up to?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I got a call from the detective heading the case in Broughdon. He said he’s had a few calls about you questioning people about Dean’s death. Is there a reason why you didn’t tell me about this?”

  “We were just asking a few questions, we didn’t do anything wrong.” She frowned.

  “I know you didn’t, but the detective is getting a little sensitive about your involvement. So far I’ve managed to persuade him that Charlotte doesn’t know anything about the crime, but if her name kee
ps coming up then it is going to get more difficult.”

  “I understand, and I appreciate your help, Luke. We didn’t mean to cause any problems. But we did find out some information.” She filled him in on the encounter with Brad, the customer names she’d found, Silvio’s alibi, and the information that Chris supplied.

  “Wow, you got a lot accomplished in one morning. No wonder I got a call from the detective. Are you sure you don’t want to wear a badge?”

  “No, I’m perfectly happy with making chocolates. But what I’m not happy with is Mee-Maw being upset. I’m worried about her. Especially with that restraining order to think about.”

  “Well, I do have a little news about that. It turns out the restraining order was for stalking, not violence. She claimed that he was following her everywhere and calling repeatedly, however I don’t see much evidence to support that.”

  “Well, it is a relief that there wasn’t violence involved, but it still makes me uneasy that someone could be that obsessive. What happens if Mee-Maw decides she’s not interested anymore?”

  “That’s something to consider. But I think we need to discuss this situation with Brad. I don’t want you putting yourself in a dangerous position. Brad could very well be dangerous, he’s already shown quite a temper.”

  “Yes, I know, and he was with Dean the night before he was killed.”

  “How did Erica seem?”

  “Upset. She had nothing but kind things to say about her father.”

  “What about Silvio? It sounds like he was losing a lot of business to Dean. Maybe that was enough to drive him to murder. It’s not the biggest market and Dean just opened his shop recently, so maybe the new competition means that Silvio wouldn’t be able to stay afloat much longer with Dean undercutting his prices and stealing customers.”

  “I agree, and Chris, the customer I told you about, canceled his order with Silvio and went to Dean instead. However, Silvio seems pretty frail, and he has an alibi. He was at the shop the whole time because his assistant Troy was out for a delivery. They are the only two that work in the shop.”