Murder in Maine (Margot Durand Cozy Mystery Book 7) Page 7

  “She could have told me,” he said a few minutes later.

  “I think she was trying to protect you.”

  “By letting me think she had been kidnapped? I thought—” His voice broke and Margot’s stomach clenched. “I thought something really bad had happened, but I wasn't letting myself believe it. You know?”

  “I know,” Margot said, wishing there was something she could say to make him feel better. But there wasn’t. Right or wrong, Danielle had made her choice and they would have to work out the ramifications of that choice for a while.

  “Still,” he said, as they approached the outskirts of town. “I’m just glad that she’s okay. Though I don't know how I feel about her being with Mister Detective Guy.”

  Margot couldn’t help but smile. “Typical brother reaction. But it seems as if they really care for one another.”

  “I know,” he said, sounding resigned.

  The lights of the shops, all now closed, shone dimly as they wound through the nearly empty streets. It wasn’t that late out, but it was late enough that many were already inside for the evening.

  Then Margot remembered what Peter had said about Murphy Mitchell. She told Dexter, who also found it very strange.

  “It looks like I’ll need to do some background checks on the police department staff. And some digging to see if I can find this guy. Glad Peter knew his first name.”

  Margot felt as if she should protest, but the more information they had about the potential players in this terrible game, the more they would have to go on. Perhaps she could get Adam to help as well, though she was more interested in asking him to find out information on Vlad Petrov.

  “We’ll need to contact Adam—”

  “On it,” Dexter said as he pulled into the alley near the side door to the bakery. “I knew you’d ask.”

  “Good,” she said with a light laugh. “Then I don’t have to worry about doing it myself. Besides, you’re the one with the secure channels.”

  They got out and quickly made their way inside and upstairs. On the landing, Dexter stopped to look at Margot.

  “Thanks for helping me find my sister, Margot. I knew I could count on you to help. And I knew you’d find her.”

  She shook her head, holding up her hands. “It really wasn't me. I mean, if we—”

  “Thank you,” he said again, nailing her with his gaze.

  Rather than ague more, she nodded once. “You’re welcome.”

  “Let’s talk in the morning, okay? It’ll give us both a chance to process this information.”

  “You’ve got it.”

  “Oh…” His words stopped her. “How are your hands?”

  She looked down and shrugged. “About the same.”

  “Feel up to teaching some of my staff a thing or two tomorrow?”

  Margot laughed, shaking a bandaged hand at him. “Knew you’d take advantage of me.”

  “Guilty.” He held up his hands. “But I’ll take that as a yes.”

  “Yes,” she said, dipping her head toward him. “I’d be happy to help.”

  “Good night.”

  She slipped into her room and sunk down on the bed. The room was a comfortable temperature, but she still pulled the blanket up around her shoulders and sunk back against the pillows. They had learned a lot and yet were left with even more questions. A man with connections to the Russian mafia. A man’s death all but erased from the system. Someone—or more than one—who knew things they shouldn’t. But who was the leak? Someone would have to make a mistake soon, if they already hadn’t. It seemed as if only time would tell.

  Chapter 10

  Margot enjoyed the luxury of sleeping in, knowing that Dexter and his helpers would have to bake for the day first before they would have free time to learn new techniques from her. When she woke up, she took a shower, wrapped her hands loosely in hopes that Shelly would be able to help her again, and made a quick breakfast of eggs and toast.

  When a light knock alighted on her door, she was surprised to find Dexter there with a foam cup of coffee and a fresh pastry. “We’ve got about an hour before Shelly shows up. I’d like you to work with her today if you’re still up to it.”

  “Definitely,” she said, eyeing the filled croissant.

  He set it and the coffee down at the small table and they sat so she could enjoy her second breakfast.

  “How did it go this morning?”

  Dexter shrugged. “Fine. They do well with what they know how to do, but it’s been hard to train the workers better with all my focus having been on finding Danielle. Then today, when I could have had more mental capacity, all I could think about was what Danielle had said. How she’d looked so afraid of that guy. What do you think he’s doing up here?”

  Margot had been thinking about this for a while now and still had no good answers. “We’d been working under the assumption that your sister’s location was betrayed by a leak at the FBI, right? That somehow, someone had learned where she was and…what? The Queen had come for her? But as revenge or necessity or…something else?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Exactly. We don’t know, but we do have your sister’s word now that tells us that it isn’t The Queen. I’m inclined to believe her.”

  “I don’t think she’d lie about that. Not to me.” He paused. “Then again, I don't know what she’d lie about to me anymore. I was so sure that this had something to do with her past, but I’m happy to be wrong.”

  His shoulders drooped and Margot felt sadness wash through her. “I'm sorry, Dexter. As much as it hurts that she didn’t tell you where she was, we know that she did it for you. For your safety. That man really has her scared—” Almost more than she should be, Margot thought. “—and she was merely thinking of keeping you safe.”

  “I guess.” He looked out the window, taking a sip of his own coffee.

  “Does this look like The Queen?”

  “Huh?” Dexter looked over at Margot. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, from what I’ve heard about her and her operation, it seems as if she’s more…flamboyant. I mean, she keeps her headquarters in Atlantic City. I even read once that she has a magician on her payroll.” Margot shook her head. “It just seems like some small town in Maine is not typical.”

  “What is typical for a criminal? Except for criminal activity.”

  “True, but…” Margot trailed off.

  “What are you saying, Margot?” Dexter asked.

  “I don’t think it’s The Queen. It may not even be about your sister at all.” Margot turned her gaze to Dexter. “What I mean by that is that, though your sister may be in danger, it wasn’t about her to start with.”

  Ideas began to form in Margot’s mind. She needed to talk to Danielle again. But that would have to wait. If they were seen leaving town too frequently, people would likely become suspicious. Even as it was, they would have to come up with a story about where they went the night before if anyone had seen them. There wasn’t much to go do that was outside of town and the answer of stargazing would only work one time.

  “I think you’re right. I mean, she’s still involved because she knows this guy, but if we don’t even know who he his, there’s no way to know if he’s even still in town.”

  Margot nodded. She’d thought of that as well. It was obvious that Peter know who the man was and Danielle had likely explained what the man looked like to him. It was a possibility that he could tell them if the man was still around, though she had a feeling Peter would bring Danielle back in town the moment he knew Petrov was gone.

  A knock sounded at Margot’s door and she stood up, sending Dexter a surprised look. He shrugged and joined her at the door.

  “Hey,” Shelly said, her gaze going between Dexter and Margot. “Am I interrupting?”

  “Nope,” Dexter said, stepping past her and meeting Margot’s gaze. “I asked Shelly to come up to help you out with your bandages.”

  “Thanks so much,” she said t
o Shelly.

  “Of course. Let’s get those hands bound so that I can learn some new stuff.” She grinned and set to work prepping Margot’s hands and then wrapping them up.

  When they were done, she looked up and grinned. “Time to teach me all the tricks, Chef.”

  Margot laughed and held up both of her hands. “This mummy is ready to go.”

  “Hey, I’ve got it,” Shelly said with merriment in her eyes.

  “What?” Margot asked warily.

  “You can be a mummy for Halloween!”

  Margot laughed, looking at her hands again. “That may be the best idea yet.”

  Shelly was a quick learner and, despite the fact that Margot couldn’t use her hands to show proper techniques, she was able to convey what she meant with words almost as well.

  “You’re such a great teacher,” Shelly said as she put the finishing touches on her first attempt at Halloween-inspired religieuses au chocolat with little pumpkins and orange frosting. She had done an almost perfect job.

  “These look wonderful.”

  “I bet they’ll taste even better,” Dexter said with a laugh as he walked past.

  “You bet they will,” Shelly called out, laughing. “Seriously, my brother is going to flip when he sees these.”

  “Is your brother a fan of pastries?” Margot asked.

  “You can say he’s a fan of anything you can eat,” Shelly said with a grin. “You know, I am so proud of him. He got himself into quite a bit of debt, you know how it is with young guys and cars and stuff.” She rolled her eyes and pushed up her sleeve with her forearm. “But he’s got this great job at the iron factory and is doing so well. But he comes home every night starving. It’s like he’s eating for five people.”

  Margot joined Shelly with a laugh. “Sounds like you both are industrious people.”

  “Oh, me?” Shelly shook her head. “I just work here. Nothing too fancy.”

  “But aren’t you studying to be a nurse?”

  “Oh, well, yeah, sure.” She shrugged again. “I mean, it’s just night classes but that’s how my friend Danika started, so I figured if she could do it, so could I.”

  Margot’s attention snapped to Shelly. She was friends with Danika? “Oh, Danika? Isn’t she the one that works with Doc Benson?”

  “Yeah,” Shelly said with a big grin. “That’s her. We’ve known each other forever it feels like.”

  This was perfect. Margot could find out more about the woman without having to pry it from her. She was about to ask a question when the timer went off for another round of baked goods they were working on.

  “Better get that,” Shelly said with a smile.

  Margot cursed the timer but knew that now wasn’t the time to talk about Danika. If she did, it could seem suspicious. Perhaps there would be more time later where they could talk without it seeming odd.

  They worked for another few hours, Margot showing Shelly what she could and the woman trying her best to learn the techniques as well as please Margot. She was much harder on herself than Margot ever would have been, but Margot appreciated the fact that the woman had a perfectionist streak.

  The whole time, Margot couldn’t help but think of the questions she wanted to ask the woman though. How well did she really know Danika? Was the woman really capable of being involved with untoward business in town? Was Shelly?

  That thought caused Margot some pause, but after thinking about it, there was no way that she could believe the hardworking, perfectionistic baker’s assistant could be involved with a criminal.

  “I think that’s it,” Margot said, surveying the work they had done.

  “Whew,” Shelly said, propping her fists on her hips. “That was a lot of baking.”

  “It sure was,” Dexter said, walking slowly around the table. “You’re doing great though, Shelly.”

  “Does this mean I get a raise?” she quipped.

  Margot almost laughed at the slight blush that crept up Dexter’s neck. He obviously wasn’t used to women flirting with him. Though Shelly was far from being obvious, it was clear she thought Dexter handsome. Margot had noticed her say a few things to him in this playful manner and she’d seen the young woman’s gaze flit to him a few times. And why not? He was a handsome, single young man.

  Margot again suppressed the urge to smile and focused on the baked goods in front of them. “Don’t get cocky yet,” she cautioned in a gentle tone. “There’s still a lot to learn.”

  “Oh, I'm only joking,’ Shelly said. Now she was blushing.

  “You’re doing well, though,” Dexter said, “and I won’t say a raise is out of the question.” Then he turned to Margot. “I’ve got to run a few errands. Sam is running the front of the shop so you ladies are good to go when you’re done.”

  “Aye-aye, Chef,” Margot said with a wink. He ignored her barb and left, and she turned back to Shelly. “What do you say we clean up and then I walk home with you. I need some fresh air. You did walk, didn’t you?” Margot had seen the young woman walk up that morning and knew she hadn’t driven.

  “I did. You don't have to do that, though.”

  “No, I’d like to get to know you outside of the kitchen. That is, if you don’t mind?”

  “I don’t mind. I just… I mean, there’s not much to see in this town.”

  “Believe me, where I come from, there isn’t a whole lot to see there either.” Margot let out a good-natured laugh. “I will say that it’s a bit colder here—though not much.”

  “Well, sure, if you’d like. I suppose it could be nice with the leaves that turned and are still on the trees. The kids almost freeze when they go trick or treating though.”

  Margot laughed, imagining the extra bundling they’d have to do.

  They worked diligently for the next twenty minutes and then got ready to leave. Margot made sure to leave a note for Dexter and then, after wrapping an extra scarf around her neck, left with Shelly.

  The air was brisk and held the hint of spice and dying leaves. It wasn’t an unpleasant scent and reminded Margot of the photos she’d seen of Maine. Idyllic and iconic.

  “How long have you lived here, Shelly?” she asked, hoping to work her way around to the questions she really wanted to ask.

  “All my life,” the young woman said, scuffing her boot along the ground. “I wanted to get out, you know—go see the world and all that—but that takes money and, while it sounds super fun, it’s not easy to leave family too.”

  “So you’re close with your family?”

  “Yeah.” Ahe smiled, a wistful look coming over her soft features. “My younger brother, Craig—he’s the one that works at the iron factory—and I have a small apartment. That’s where we’re headed. But then my older brother has family that live in town. They have two little girls and it is so fun being Aunt Shell. That’s what they call me.” She smiled and Margot could see the longing in the woman’s gaze. She wanted to have a family of her own.

  “That’s lovely. Are your parents still in the area?”

  “Yes.” Shelly nodded. “They live a few blocks from my older brother. Holidays are a lot of fun with people everywhere and tons of food. You know—large family stuff. My aunts and uncles all live in town too. It’s fun.”

  “Sounds like it.” Margot took the next few steps in silence then asked, “Did a lot of people stay around from high school?”

  “Yes. I mean, the majority of them. The guys went to work for the factory and the women…well, they got married and had kids.” She laughed and shrugged. “That’s how it is in a small town.”

  Margot bit her lip. Could she bring up Danika without it seeming strange? “Like Danika?”

  “Yeah. I mean, she’s still single, but she’s one of the few that still is. Like me. She bought a house just a few weeks ago too. That surprised me.”

  “Oh really?” Margot tried not to show too much interest, but this was news.

  “Well, she’s worked for Doc for a few years now and everyone
knows you don’t make that much working for Doc. He’s great, but he’s not exactly rich.”

  “I wonder how she could afford to buy a house,” Margot mused, more for the sake that she hoped the young woman would give her a plausible explanation. Or at least her thoughts on it.

  “I have no idea, but the way she spends money, I have to assume she just charged it.” Shelly laughed. “Okay, I know you can’t really do that with a house, but if Danika could, she would charge everything.”

  The picture that Shelly painted of the woman fit in line with what Margot had assumed about her. But what did that mean? Was she getting paid off to do illegal things? And if so, how had she fallen into that?

  “This is me,” Shelly said, pointing to a small but cute one-story cottage. It was white with cheery red shutters framing the windows and had several pumpkins, one carved with a toothy grin, on the front porch. “Did you want to come in for a minute?”

  Margot was about to decline but then thought she could possibly gain more information about the town from a local. “That would be great, thank you.”

  Chapter 11

  A tall man was laying on the couch, his arm over his eyes with one leg still resting on the floor. He jolted up when they stepped into the living room.

  “Oh! I'm so sorry, Craig,” Shelly said.

  Her brother rubbed a hand over his face and shook his head. “Stuff is getting weird at the iron factory, Shell. I mean—really weird.” He spoke without looking up, both hands rubbing at his eyes like a tired little boy. When he did finally look up, his eyes widened when he saw Margot and he shot to his feet. “Oh gosh, sorry. I didn’t know you had company.”

  “Craig, this is Margot Durand from the bakery. She walked home with me and I thought I’d invite her in. Didn’t know you’d be sleeping,” she said with a lighthearted laugh.

  “Yeah.” He stifled another yawn and stepped forward. “Sorry again about that. Nice to meet you, Miss Durand.”

  “Likewise,” she said, not feeling the need to correct him. She was more focused on the fact that he’d said there were strange things going on at the factory. It was one thing to have a known criminal in town and a woman getting a paid off, but if something else was also going on at the factory, that could lend a clue as to why Petrov was in town. “What is it that you do at the factory?”