A's in the Hole

  A’S IN THE HOLE

  CHOCOLATE COZY MYSTERY #4

  WENDY MEADOWS

  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.

  Printed in the United States of America

  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

  Thanks for reading

  Be the First to Know

  About the Author

  Also by Wendy Meadows

  CHAPTER ONE

  T he interior of the Block-A-Choc Shoppe buzzed with activity. Folks sat at their tables snacking on chocolates and sipping from tall latte mugs and tiny espresso cups. The three A's chatted while they worked, sweeping between tables. Alvira offered coffee refills, Alphonsine delivered chocolates and took orders, and Alberta, or ‘Albie’ oscillated between the kitchen and the floor. She questioned whether there were enough Sticky Cherry Truffles and the Creamed Strawberry Delights, or if she should make another batch of their latest creation.

  Olivia manned the front counter and smiled. This was exactly what she'd envisioned when she'd first decided the time was right to set up a store.

  "Ma'am?" A middle-aged guy in a peak cap and overalls halted in front of the counter.

  "Good morning," Olivia said. "What can I get for you today?"

  "Nothin', ma'am. I'm here about the air-conditioning unit. You called Todd for repairs."

  "Oh, great," Olivia said, and brushed off her hands. She gestured for Alphonsine to take her place at the front counter. She swept out from behind it and led the new guy to the unit in the corner. "I'm glad you came on such short notice."

  "It's no problem," he said. He put down his toolbox. Sweat streaked his temples, either side of his graying brown hair. Dark rings circled his eyes.

  "What's your name?" Olivia asked.

  He patted the patch sewn onto his breast pocket. "Georgie, ma'am."

  Some investigator she was, sheesh. Olivia pointed to the unit. "I figured we should get this fixed before summer hits." Chest isn't the warmest place around this time of year, but the hot months were on their way and she didn't want to think about her chocolates in that kind of environment.

  She'd be selling hot chocolate puddles if she let this go for much longer.

  "When did it break, ma'am?" Georgie asked, and crouched over his toolbox.

  "Just last week. I really should've called before now, but I've been a little busy." Understatement of the century. She'd positively reeled after her son had been accused of murder. But it was all clear now, and Sebby had returned to college without his best friends.

  "No problem," Georgie muttered. He clanked his box open and rummaged around inside it.

  "Can I get you a coffee or anything? On the house."

  "No thanks, ma'am."

  "You can call me -"

  "Olivia!" Albie waved from the front counter. She'd skipped out on kitchen duty and sent Alphonsine to make drops instead of her, apparently. Ever the social butterfly, their resident elderly A.

  "What?"

  Albie crooked a finger. "You've got an A-list visitor." She stepped back and revealed the woman waiting at the front of the line.

  Platinum blonde hair to rival one of those Playmate women, wrinkled skin on the décolletage and enough makeup to make a Maybelline model weep - Lilac Charleston twiddled her rouge claws and blew a kiss. "Hello, darling."

  Olivia hurried over to their resident celebrity; radio host extraordinaire. She bumped into Albie, winced, then rubbed her arm. "Sorry," she said.

  Albie ignored her, jaw dropped, all her attention on Lilac.

  "How are you, sweetie?" Lilac asked as she held out the tips of her fingers.

  Was she supposed to kiss them? This felt like a 'kiss the Pope's ring' moment. Olivia opted for a strange fingertip handshake instead. A tip shake? Lilac pursed her lips and withdrew the blessed limb.

  "I'm fine, thanks. Just a lot going -"

  "I'm wonderful too, darling," Lilac said. "Just wonderful. Did you listen to my show on the radio this morning?"

  "No, I was -"

  "Pity, pity, you missed out on my grand announcement then," Lilac said, and swished her chin up. The platinum mountain atop her crown didn't budge. "And an important one, too."

  Olivia wasn't sure if she should respond. Would it make a difference to Lilac?

  "I'm so glad you asked," Lilac continued. "You see, I'm having an event for all my fellow hosts at station HQ."

  Albie hadn't said a word the entire time. She stared, nodding along like a mime portraying a bobble head figure.

  "Chester Radio TODAY!" Lilac weaved her arms around. "That's the station, as I'm sure you know. Now, this little event I'm hosting is going to be the highlight of the winter, if not the year. It's going to be the bees knees, darling. Everything anyone could ask for."

  "And you -"

  "That's why I need you and your little crew here, you see? I need the best treats for my guests. I hear your chocolates are scrumptious. Positively delightful," she said.

  "You could try one if you'd like." Olivia rushed the sentence out.

  "Oh no, dear. I don't eat sugars. Or milk byproducts." Lilac swayed on the spot - possibly from lack of nutrition. What else didn't she consume? Veggies? Water? Air, perhaps? "Terrible for the digestive system. Clean eating, darling; that's the new fad."

  "So you need us at this event," Olivia said. "When is it?"

  "Two nights from now. I need treats for at least one hundred people. Can you pull it off, sweetie? Can you make this work for Lilac?"

  Cringe, cringe, cringe. "Sure, I can do that. Do you have any specific chocolate in mind? Any requests?" It would take a lot of work to produce that many chocolates by Wednesday evening, but it was doable. Anything was possible with her three A's on board.

  "Wonderful, simply wonderful. You see, I love the scent of the -"

  "Ma'am?" Georgie halted beside the counter.

  Lilac glared at him, displaying a full set of teeth white enough to glow in the dark. Apparently, she couldn't handle interruptions as well as she could dole them out.

  "Yes, Georgie?" Olivia asked.

  "I've forgotten something in the truck. I need to fetch it. I'll be back in a minute. I left my toolbox over there," he said, and thumbed in the air conditioner's direction.

  "All right, that's no problem. I'll keep an eye on it while you're gone."

  Georgie bobbed his head. His gaze flicked from Olivia to the fabulous and hearing impervious Ms. Lilac Charleston. His expression altered only slightly, a grim twist of distaste, and then he shuffled past them and made for the door.

  "What a rude, creature," Lilac said, and tossed her fantastic head again. "As I was saying, I do so love the scent of chocolate."

  "Any
requests for the -?"

  "It's the richness, the mouthwatering goodness. It's a pity my figure can't handle even one of the delicious little heaven drops," Lilac said, and ticked her nails against the glass.

  "Right," Olivia said. "Well, I'll be ready to cater your event, Ms. Charleston. I'd better get to the kitchen and start preparing." Anything to escape the woman. She couldn't blame Georgie for giving her the look.

  "Yes, sweetie, you do that. Do it for Lilac."

  Olivia cringed her way into the kitchen. She had to chug water and eat ten chocolates just to cope.

  CHAPTER TWO

  "T his is fancy, don't you think?" Alberta stood behind the long table they'd set up in the conference room at Chester Radio TODAY! HQ.

  People milled around, sampling chocolates from their display and moving over to the guys at the pizza table across the room. The entire building was alive with people; from Chester socialites to radio stars to journalists.

  "It's all right," Olivia said. "I guess I never figured that radio personalities could be celebrities to this extent."

  "In Chester? Of course they are," Albie replied. "Radio is what pulls people out of bed in a small town like this. When you're driving to work and you hear your favorites come on, it's like slipping on a warm pair of fluffy socks."

  "Goodness."

  "Yeah, and, oh - oh my heavens!" Alberta clamped her hand down on Olivia's arm and tugged her a little to the left. "Look! There he is!"

  Albie's eyes went bulgy and jerked her chin toward the man a few paces from their table of chocolates. He had stark black hair oiled back above hawkish eyes and a jawline sharp enough to chip ice.

  "Who's that?" Olivia asked.

  "You're kidding." Alberta didn't turn from gawking. "You don't know who that is? Where have you been the past few months?"

  "In the store?"

  "That's Van 'The Man' Washington. The newest, hottest, youngest radio personality at Chester Radio TODAY!" Alberta trembled on the spot. "Goodness, he is an attractive man. I believe the kids nowadays call that too hot to handle."

  "Alberta," Olivia hissed.

  The elderly woman didn't have the decency to look embarrassed. She continued gawking at Van the Man. "He's Lilac's biggest competition. Ooh, ooh, here she comes. This should be good."

  Lilac swept up to Van, carrying a plate of broccoli in one hand and a glass of sparkling water in the other. Ah, so she does consume veggies after all.

  Van sniffed. "No thanks," he said.

  "Pardon?" Lilac asked. Olivia noted she hadn't used the 'sweetie' vernacular. The older woman's hair glimmered beneath the down lights, offset by the eyeball-searing hues of red and yellow wall paint - the radio HQ's signature colors.

  "I said, no thank you. I don't want any of the appetizers."

  "I'm not offering."

  "You're not? Oh, wow. Lilac, is that you? I didn't recognize you in that outfit. I thought you were one of waiters," Van said.

  "Oh ho." Alberta coughed to cover the exclamation.

  Olivia didn't blame her. That'd been a savage blow to Lilac's massive ego. She couldn't help enjoying the takedown after Lilac's uppity act in the store the other day. It was only a pity it'd been delivered by a man who likely had a bigger ego than the blonde vixen herself.

  "You're hilarious, Van," Lilac said, and nibbled on the end of a broccoli tree. "Hilarious. If only that translated over the radio."

  "What's that supposed to mean?"

  "It means that there's a reason I'm prime time and you're midday, darling," Lilac purred. "The ratings show who's more popular and it's not Van Washington."

  "Van the Man."

  Lilac's gaze swept up and down his frame, once. "If you say so."

  "Old witch," he growled.

  "Even your insults are unoriginal," Lilac replied. "I pity you. Now, if you'll excuse me, darling, there are important people who're dying to meet with me." She twiddled her fingers in front of his nose before wafting off on a cloud of perfume and elegance.

  "Wow." Olivia rearranged the stack of paper napkins on the table. "That was vicious."

  "Yeah," Albie breathed. "Oh, there he goes, stomping off. She beat him that time, but I doubt Van the Man will stay defeated for long. He'll get her back."

  "What do you mean, get her back?" Olivia asked.

  "Well, they've got this long standing competition. Lilac pulls ahead some days but Van always hits back. It's great entertainment," Alberta replied. "Van crashed one of Lilac's radio shows, once, and after that it was full scale radio host war." Albie's expression lit up at the memory.

  "It sounds a little petty, if you ask me." Olivia shrugged.

  Alberta chuckled. "Of course it's petty. That's entertainment, dear. The pettier, the better."

  Olivia had had enough pettiness in her life. Enough small arguments with folks who thought they could walk all over other people. She preferred chocolates, her friends, and her dear doggy, Dodger. The rest could take a hike.

  Olivia brushed off her apron and grimaced at the stickiness on her palms. "Ugh, I've got creamed strawberry everywhere. I'll be right back."

  "Sure," Albie said, already scanning the crowd for more petty entertainment. Van the Man and Lilac Charleston had disappeared, however.

  Olivia meandered down the long table, then across the conference room, jostled by folks in fancy dress. Each of the tuxedo and cocktail wearers gave her a look of ultimate disdain as she passed. She was the help and the help shouldn't mingle with the fancy pants radio folk.

  Heavens, she'd never expected to run into attitudes like these in Chester. Olivia ignored the stares and huffs of breath, and wound her way to the exit. She ducked into the hall then hurried toward the ladies room she'd spotted during their setup that afternoon.

  She elbowed the golden plaque bearing the image of a stick woman and entered the darkened bathroom. "Weird." The lights were off. That didn't seem smart.

  Olivia whacked the light switch with the back of her hand.

  The fluorescents hummed, clicked, and lit up the lurid yellow and red interior of the bathroom.

  Olivia looked down and lost her breath. "No, no, no. Not this again," she whispered. She took a faltering step forward, her kitten heels clicking in the sudden quiet. Blood screamed in her ears.

  Lilac Charleston lay face up, eyes wide and staring at the ceiling. There was a pink polka dot scarf tied around her neck, tight enough to bruise.

  The radio hostess was dead.

  CHAPTER THREE

  "A nd you just happened to stumble upon the corpse." Detective Keane's reddened face took up her vision. He'd spent too much time snacking and clogging his arteries if that complexion had anything to say about it. Or she'd driven him to anger, yet again.

  "I didn't mean to find her," Olivia said. "I'm not doing this on purpose, detective, and you implying otherwise is simply ridiculous."

  "Ridiculous or not, this is the fourth time." Detective Keane lifted four chubby fingers. "Four, count them, four. Fourth time that you've either found a dead body, or been involved in a case. There are no coincidences, Olivia Cloud."

  "I love it when you call me by my full name." She folded her arms. "Listen, detective; it isn't my fault you can't keep a handle on your job. If the police in Chester did their work properly, if they caught killers before they had a chance to well, you know, commit murders, we wouldn't be having this conversation."

  Detective Keane huffed and puffed, on the verge of a pyrotechnic display of emotion.

  Alberta shifted in the plastic chair next to Olivia's. "Perhaps now is not the best time to provoke him, dear."

  "Your darn right it's not a good time to provoke me," Keane roared.

  A series of shrieks rang out from the conference room behind him. All those fancy, glittery guests had been relegated to plastic chairs. Officers stood at intervals - it had to be the entirety of the station's work force - and took statements. There were one hundred guests. It'd take all night to interview them.

&
nbsp; Olivia swiped a speck of the detective's spittle from her brow. "Losing your cool won't serve anyone in here. You're only proving you haven't got things under control." She couldn't help taking out her frustration on him.

  She'd walked in on a woman dead in the bathroom and the only response she'd gotten thus far was strange stares and anger.

  "Let me make something amply clear, Ms. Cloud." Keane leaned in closer and blotted out the light; which had haloed his meaty head. "If you touch this case, if you do anything at all that I find remotely suspicious relating to that dead lady in the bathroom, I will lock you up."

  "On what charges?" Olivia asked.

  "Obstructing the course of justice." Keane backed off a step. "I'm done looking over my shoulder. I can't investigate a murder and keep you in check at the same time."

  Olivia kept her peace this time, even though she bubbled on the inside. She hadn't even considered investigating Lilac's death, but the more Keane rambled on about it and threatened her, the more she wanted to step in. After all, it'd been her and Jake who'd found the murderer the last time around.

  Keane and his officers had been on the wrong track. She didn't want to fight the law, she wanted to help the process along. Was that so crazy? Jake would support Keane, no doubt. Tell her to butt out.