Itsy-Bitsy Murder (Chocolate Cozy Mystery Book 2) Read online

  Itsy-Bitsy Murder

  Chocolate Cozy Mystery #2

  Wendy Meadows

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Be the First to Know

  Also by Wendy Meadows

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2017 by Wendy Meadows

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Chapter One

  Olivia Cloud examined the chocolate truffles in her glass case. Every shape, color and flavor imaginable sat nestled shoulder to shoulder in their trays. White chocolate drops swirled through with dark chocolate mousse. There were strawberry-filled delights and her newest creation: the sticky cherry truffle. Sinfully dark chocolate shrouded the sticky, sweet cherry beneath it. One bite and the cherry goodness exploded on the tongue.

  Olivia sighed and placed her fists on her hips. Gorgeous chocolates for a beautiful fall day, but she couldn’t shake her dissatisfaction.

  “What happened?” Alberta asked from behind the cash register.

  “Nothing,” Olivia said and waved her hand.

  “Oh, come on, dear. I wasn’t born yesterday. Far from it.” Alberta patted her gray hair, tinted pale blue today, and fluttered her eyelashes. “Something’s gotten under your skin.”

  Olivia glanced around the room at her customers. Folks sat at their tables munching on assortments of chocolate and sipping mochas.

  The Chester Fall Festival had paid off. They hadn’t had a quiet day in a week.

  “Olivia Cloud,” Alberta said.

  She jumped and looked over at her assistant. “What is it?”

  “Answer my question this instant. I don’t want you moping around in here, scaring off our customers.” Alberta folded her arms and stared Olivia down.

  Olivia couldn’t help but smile. “You always know how to cheer me up,” she said.

  Alberta giggled and dropped her arms to her sides. Concern flickered across her expression. “Why do you need cheering up?”

  “It’s nothing.” Olivia forced a smile. “I was supposed to have a date with Jake Morgan. Never heard from him.”

  Alberta’s jaw dropped.

  “It’s not that shocking,” Olivia said. “Sometimes these things don’t work out.” She wasn’t down about it. Sure, it had gotten to her, but she’d been alone too long to worry about a botched date, for heaven’s sakes.

  She had her Dodger, and she had her As and the Block-a-Choc Shoppe. Her son would come home to visit for Christmas, too. Nothing else really mattered.

  Olivia patted Alberta on the back. “Come on. Let’s focus on the chocolates.” She walked to the coffee machine and punched a few buttons, then placed two mugs beneath the silver spouts.

  “If you say so, dear,” Alberta replied, but she didn’t sound convinced.

  Olivia checked her watch. “Alvira should’ve been here ten minutes ago.” She frowned and scratched the lines on her forehead.

  It wasn’t like her soft-spoken and ever conscientious assistant to be late.

  The front door to the store opened, and the young woman rushed in, a newspaper tucked under her arm and her face as pale as a white chocolate truffle.

  “Alvira?” Olivia asked. “What’s wrong?”

  Her assistant hurried to the counter, whipped the newspaper out from underneath her arm and placed it face-up beside the register.

  “I’m so sorry, Olivia,” she whispered, then bit her thumbnail.

  “About what?” Olivia asked, and a few butterflies twirled around behind her bellybutton. What had happened? “You couldn’t get the organic butter?”

  “No, I didn’t,” Alvira said, then shook her head. “But I’m sorry about this.” She tapped the front page of the newspaper, then returned to her nail-biting.

  Olivia switched her gaze to the Chester Gazette, and her heart skipped a beat.

  Jana Jujube’s face stared up at her beneath the headline:

  Cuddle Clinic Owner Found Unconscious in Home: Police Investigate Attempted Homicide.

  “No,” Olivia said, and unfolded the newspaper. She scanned the words on the page, but they didn’t tell her much.

  Jana had been attacked sometime in the night. She’d been struck on the back of the head, and they’d taken her to the hospital downtown, where she still lay in a coma.

  This was horrible. Jana had been an incredible young woman. She’d opened the Cuddle Clinic in Chester to spread love and comfort, and although some of the residents viewed the business with suspicion, her business had begun to thrive.

  “I can’t believe it,” Olivia said and brushed her fingertips over the page. “Poor Jana.”

  Alberta leaned in and read over Olivia’s shoulder. “Oh dear,” she muttered, and the crow’s feet beside her eyes became more pronounced. “Poor girl. She seemed really nice.”

  “She was,” Olivia replied. “I spoke to her after, you know, that whole Lizzy Couture thing, and she just wanted everyone to be happy. Strange kid. Cute kid, though.”

  Even Dodger had liked Jana, and while he slobbered over almost everything and everyone, he didn’t pick the targets of his advanced affections lightly.

  Olivia sighed and shifted the newspaper to one side. She walked to the coffee machine and grabbed a mug, then handed it to Alberta. She took one herself and stared into its murky depths.

  “Who would want to hurt her?” Olivia asked, more to herself than to either of her assistants.

  The bustle of laughter and chatter inside her shop would’ve comforted her on any other day.

  “Why don’t you find out?” Alberta asked, and her eyes lit up like the fourth of July. “You could call Jake and ask him to help you.”

  “What?” Olivia looked up from her coffee. “No, Albie. It’s not my place. I—”

  “But this is Jana. She’s your friend,” Alvira muttered.

  Olivia paused and drew in a deep breath. She sincerely didn’t want to phone Jake Morgan for anything, least of all help.

  “You can’t tell me you don’t want to find out what happened,” Alberta said and tapped the side of her nose. “I know you, Miss Cloud. I know you won’t let this rest.”

  She had a point.

  Jana hadn’t exactly been her best friend, but she had been helpful and kind to Olivia during a trying time. She certainly hadn’t deserved to be beaten almost to death.

  And whoever had hurt her deserved justice.

  What if Detective Keene at the Chester Police Department was once again slow in identifying the killer?

  Alvira stared at Olivia and clasped her hands together under her chin. “It’s the right thing to do, Olivia. You were so good on the la
st case.”

  “And I know Jake will want to help you,” Alvira added.

  Olivia sighed and looked down at the image of Jana Jujube on the front page of the Chester Gazette. She put her coffee down, then brushed her palms off on her apron.

  “All right,” she said. “I’ll look into it.”

  It was the right thing to do. After all, the cops hadn’t been close to solving the last case. She had to show them the right path, with Jake’s help.

  Olivia Cloud was on the case. Heaven help anyone who stood in her way.

  Chapter Two

  Olivia touched her index finger to the face of her watch, then glanced around the coffee shop.

  Jake Morgan should’ve arrived by now. He’d agreed to meet her just an hour after she’d called.

  “Late,” she said and huffed out a sigh. She hadn’t planned on seeing Jake again in the first place, and now he was late, adding insult to injury.

  “Can I get anything else for ya, ma’am?” the waitress asked, then scratched beneath what had to be a wig with the end of her pen.

  “No, thank you,” Olivia replied and tapped the side of her coffee mug. “I’m still full.” The worst coffee she’d ever tasted. All right, so she was a little bitter this morning, but a good woman was in the hospital, and it was…strange that the rest of Chester continued as usual.

  Kerry Lamore sat in a booth a few tables down and giggled at the gossip that poured from her best friend’s mouth.

  George Fields stood in front of the counter, his hands deep in his pockets in a frantic search for change.

  Jake Morgan strolled toward her.

  “Oh,” she whispered, then swallowed. This would be an awkward encounter.

  The P.I. stopped beside Olivia’s table and extended a hand. “Morning, Miss Cloud,” he said, formally.

  Olivia grasped his hand and shook it once. A firm shake—she meant business. “Mr. Morgan. Care to have a seat?”

  “Thanks,” he replied, then plonked down opposite her. He fiddled with his oversized coat but didn’t remove it.

  “Coffee?” Olivia asked. Yuck, she had to figure out how to make this encounter less uncomfortable.

  Jake nodded once, then waved over the wigged waitress and her weak pot of coffee.

  “Hello there, darlin’,” the waitress said. “Haven’t seen you here in a while.”

  “Hi, Marlene,” Jake replied. “I’ve been a little busy. Work.”

  “I hear ya.” Marlene poured his coffee, then sauntered off and adjusted her wig again.

  Jake stared into his weak coffee, and a frown wrinkled his brow. He reached for a sachet of sugar. “Olivia, I’ve been meaning to talk to you. I should’ve called after—”

  “Mr. Morgan,” Olivia said and cut directly across his train of thought. “I’m sorry to interrupt you, but there’s an important issue at hand, and I’d prefer to discuss it immediately.”

  “Jana Jujube,” Jake said.

  Olivia bobbed her chin up and down. “That’s correct. I hoped to enlist your help on the case. I know you have connections in the police department and I thought—”

  “I’ve already spoken to them about it,” Jake said, then slipped a brown file from inside his coat. He placed it on the table between them, spun it to face Olivia, then folded his arms. “The minute I heard about Jujube, I made a phone call to a few of my contacts down at the station. I figured you’d want to get involved.”

  Olivia’s jaw dropped. She snapped it up again, then cleared her throat. “And what gave you that idea?”

  “She is a nice kid,” Jake said. “Young and hopeful, and she helped us—I mean, you—on the last case.”

  Olivia flipped open the file and retrieved a sheaf of paper. She scanned it and her eyebrows hopped up. “Emails?”

  “That’s correct. These are from Jana’s laptop, which was taken into evidence last night.” Jake emptied two sugar sachets into his coffee, then picked up his spoon and stirred. “It’s correspondence between Jana and her sister, Jessica, who arrived in Chester two days ago.”

  “Wow,” Olivia said and focused on the page. “These are pretty angry.”

  Jana hadn’t held back one bit in the emails. She’d called her sister a variety of names, not sounding at all like the Jana Olivia knew.

  “Yeah, it looks like Jana didn’t want her sister to come to Chester and interfere with the Cuddle Clinic,” Jake replied, then tapped his spoon on the side of his mug. “Jessica was adamant, and Jana was angry.”

  Why would Jessica Jujube interfere with the Cuddle Clinic? What did that mean for the case?

  “Interesting,” Olivia said and chewed the corner of her mouth. “Very interesting. I wonder if—”

  “Let me stop you there, Olivia.” Jake raised his palm. “I’m not going to work with you on this case.”

  Olivia’s insides twisted into a ball. Embarrassment crept up her neck and colored her cheeks. “Why?”

  “Because I’m acting as a consultant for the Chester Police Department. Detective Keene contacted me this morning and asked that I work with them on the case,” he said. He took the transcript from her and put it back in the folder.

  “Then why did you show me that?” Olivia asked and gestured toward the brown dossier.

  Jake glanced around the coffee shop, then leaned in. “Well, because you’re a friend. And I wanted you to know that I’m on top of things. I can handle this investigation with the help of the cops,” he replied.

  Jake gave off an air of confidence…one that he certainly hadn’t possessed the week before.

  “Fine,” Olivia said. She buried her anger and humiliation, then put up a broad smile. “I totally understand. That’s your job.”

  “Right,” Jake replied. “And yours is to provide Chester with the best chocolates known to mankind.”

  Oh boy, the implication was clear there. He didn’t want her to investigate this at all.

  Olivia kept silent and took a sip of her cold, weak coffee instead. She’d have to figure this out on her own.

  “Olivia,” Morgan said and rapped his knuckles on the desk. “You’re not going to investigate this, are you? You know that the police and I can handle it, right?”

  She put down her coffee, then dug her wallet out of her handbag. “I think that will be all,” Olivia said. She brought out a few dollars and threw them down beside her mug. “Have a great day, Mr. Morgan.”

  She slipped out of the booth and walked toward the exit.

  “Olivia,” he called after her. “Don’t do something you’ll regret.”

  She ignored him and grasped the handle, then tugged. Olivia Cloud hurried out into the brisk fall breeze and tightened her coat around her torso.

  Mr. Morgan thought he knew it all. That he’d be able to do the case justice. But the last time around, he’d made as many mistakes as she had.

  “Oh boy,” Olivia whispered. “This is going to be tough.”

  But she’d figure it out. If anything, Jake’s attitude had convinced her she had to get involved.

  Chapter Three

  The front doors to Jana’s Cuddle Clinic stood wide open. People meandered in and out. Those who exited bore huge smiles; those who entered walked hunched over.

  “It’s like a happy factory,” Alvira whispered beside Olivia. “People go in sad and come out looking happy as can be.” The young woman adjusted her grip on the box of chocolates. “But I thought it would be closed.”

  “So did I,” Olivia replied.

  Perhaps Jessica Jujube had already started “interfering” in the business.

  “Let’s check it out,” Olivia said and strode toward the entrance.

  Alvira hurried to catch up, her flat pumps scraping along the sidewalk outside the clinic.

  Olivia strode through the entrance and straight up to reception. A pink-cheeked man sat at the desk, a phone pressed to his ear and his blond hair tucked back to accommodate it.

  Olivia plastered up a smile and placed her hands on th
e counter.

  “Yes, we’re still open,” the receptionist said, into the phone. “Yes.” His mouth turned downward at the corners. “There’s a slot this afternoon. Two o’clock.”

  Olivia studied his expression. The poor dude didn’t look too pleased. But why would he be upset?

  “May I help you?” a woman asked.

  Alvira jumped, and the chocolates rattled inside the box.

  Olivia turned on the spot and faced the lady. This had to be Jessica Jujube. She had Jana’s nose and long, dark hair. The same slanted brown eyes. A beautiful woman, just like her sister, except she wore a smart business suit and a shrewd expression.

  “You must be Miss Jujube,” Olivia said and presented her hand for a shake.

  Jessica took it and shook twice. She had an iron grip. “And you are?”

  “I am a friend of your sister’s. I’m Olivia Cloud. I own the Block-a-Choc Shoppe.” Olivia nudged Alvira.

  Her assistant presented the box of chocolates and did a tiny curtsy.

  Mirth danced across Jessica’s face, but she took the offering, regardless. “Thank you,” she said.

  “I wanted to welcome you to Chester and to let you know we’re all thinking of Jana,” Olivia said. “She has a lovely heart.”

  “Indeed,” Jessica said, but she didn’t offer up anything else.

  Olivia cleared her throat, once, twice.

  “Do you need a doctor?” Jessica asked. “We don’t offer that kind of service here. We focus on soothing physical contact.”

  “No, I—I’m not ill.” She’d gotten off to a great start this time around. Sheesh. “Do you have a minute to chat?”

  “I’m afraid I’m not into small talk,” Jessica replied, then turned on her heel.

  “Please,” Olivia said, a bit too loudly. “I just need a moment of your time. It’s about your sister.”

  Jessica froze and looked back at her. “Fine,” she said, “but this better be fast.”

  She strode toward the door behind the counter, which led into the office. Olivia hurried after her, and Alvira followed her lead.