“Perhaps I could visit her,” Olivia said. “We have enough help with the store. I could come over tomorrow morning for a short visit, say, at nine o’clock? I’ll help her pack.”
Raoul placed his empty wineglass on a table. “I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” he said. “She will be gone, I have made the arrangements. She needs quiet, rest. Ever since her . . . her accident, she has been so fragile. It would be useless to speak to her, anyway, because her memory is often unclear. I must get back to her now.”
Before Raoul could back away, Ellie captured his arm. “Raoul, if this is the last time I will see you, then I will not allow you to leave so soon. You will have another glass of that delicious wine and meet my son, Jason. Livie, dear, would you . . . ?” She nodded toward the wine bottle. Olivia filled Raoul’s empty glass and trotted behind her mother, who smoothly trapped Raoul inside the small circle surrounding Jason.
Olivia sidled up next to Del. In a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, she said, “How about holding a plate for me while I pack some ballerina cookies for Raoul to take back to his daughter?”
Del followed her to a tray piled with cookies. Olivia handed him a heavy paper plate, on which she arranged cookies shaped like toe shoes, ballet slippers, and ballerinas performing a variety of moves. “Raoul is desperate to keep me or anyone from talking to his daughter. He’s going to get her out of town as soon as he leaves here, I’ll bet on it.”
Del leaned toward her. “And you think this is significant because . . . ?”
“I think Valentina knows something about King’s murder. Raoul doesn’t want her involved, he says, because she is so fragile. Only I can’t help but wonder . . . Del, I’m going to play a hunch tonight, and I might need your help.”
Del sighed.
“Enough with the sighing, okay? I know you don’t want me involved, but I am, so either deal with it or . . . well, that’s your only choice.” Olivia covered the plate with plastic wrap. “Follow my lead. I want to find out what Charlene had on King. She claims it was the reason she wasn’t really afraid of him.”
“Maybe she was bluffing,” Del said.
“Maybe, but I don’t think so.” Olivia met his eyes and saw worry in them. “I’m not afraid,” she said with a teasing smile. “You have a gun.”
With Del’s help, Olivia delivered a tray of cookies and another of cut-out vegetable sandwiches to the quiet group. “Especially for you, Charlene,” Olivia said as she placed the cut-out sandwiches within reach. Charlene actually smiled at her. After several peaceful moments had passed, Olivia said, “You know, Charlene, I’m really curious about something. When I checked on The Vegetable Plate and found Geoffrey King creating havoc, I heard him say something like, ‘I’ll kill her.’ I had the sense he was looking for a particular item, something really important to him.”
Charlene dabbed at her chin, where a drop of red juice had dripped from her tomato sandwich. “I can’t imagine what.”
“Well, I wondered because he was so violent, yet later you told me you weren’t afraid of him.”
Charlene shrugged and selected a carrot-shaped sandwich.
“Maybe it’s something you didn’t know you had,” Del said. “It would sure be helpful to us if you could figure out what it might be.”
“I have no idea.” Charlene shifted her chair closer to Jason, who reached for her free hand.
“Well, I sure don’t miss Geoffrey King,” Charlie said. “I didn’t kill him, but I was glad to get him off my back.”
“Oh Charlie, you knew I could protect you,” Charlene said.
“How?” Olivia asked. “With the evidence you had against Geoffrey King?”
In her most gentle, mothering voice, Ellie said, “You are among friends, Charlene. It can be such a relief to let go of secrets. One often finds they are not nearly as shameful as one thought they were.”
With a casual shrug, Charlene said, “Oh, I’m not ashamed. I made a promise that I wouldn’t use the information unless absolutely necessary. And now it won’t ever be necessary. It would have stood up in court, though. I had a signature and everything.”
“Is this something King was never prosecuted for?” Del asked.
“My friend never told anyone but me. She didn’t want to press charges, even though I told her I’d support her. She said no one would believe either of us. So we came up with this idea that she’d write it all down, and I’d keep it safe.”
“Do you still have all this information? Geoff never got hold of it?” Olivia asked.
Charlene snickered and said, “Geoff wasn’t as smart as he thought he was. He tore apart my store, thinking I’d be silly enough to hide it there. It’s in my safe-deposit box. Someday I’ll burn it.”
“Who was this woman, Charlene?” Del leaned toward her, pressing hard. “What was her name?”
“I’ll keep her secret forever,” Charlene said, her delicate chin in the air. “She deserves her privacy.”
“But Geoffrey King was murdered,” Del said, “and his killer hasn’t been—”
“More wine, anyone?” Ellie said, holding a bottle in each hand. “Come on, this is a celebration.”
When the atmosphere had settled, Olivia turned to Del. “So when do I get my Duesenberg back?”
“Your what?”
“Duesenberg, it’s a—”
“Classic car, I know.”
“Actually, it’s a tin cookie cutter, and I want to give it to Jason as a homecoming gift.”
“I forgot all about that.” Jason’s smile made him look more like the eager kid he’d been only days earlier. “Why does Del have it?”
“I didn’t know I did,” Del said. “I guess I should have asked you or Maddie what that cookie cutter shape was meant to be, but I wanted to keep it to myself. So much for that idea. Thanks, Livie.”
“Don’t mention it. Any idea how it got into the dead man’s hand?” Olivia took careful note of her listeners’ reactions. Bertha, Mr. Willard, and Cody maintained their watchful silence. Heather Irwin looked as if a weight had been lifted from her mind. Ellie smiled serenely, as usual. Raoul’s expression was thoughtful, attentive. Charlene looked bored, Charlie stared at the floor, and Jason frowned at Charlie.
“Charlie?” Jason asked. “You didn’t . . . did you? We talked about this. You said you’d stopped.”
“I know, I know.” Charlie’s young face scrunched up as if he were about to cry. “It was for you, Jason. I felt bad that you didn’t win it, like you wanted. Only I didn’t give it to you because I realized you’d figure out I . . . stole it. I was going to sneak it back over here, but I never got the chance.”
“Charlie!” Charlene balled up her fist at her brother but slammed the arm of her chair instead. “Those cookie cutters you gave me, you stole them, too, didn’t you? Now look what you’ve done. You’ve gotten yourself in trouble again. You’ll wind up in jail, Charlie. I can’t bear it.”
Jason reached his arm around Charlene’s tight shoulders. “It’s okay, Charlene, I’ll pay for the cutters. Charlie isn’t . . . He takes things sometimes when he’s under pressure, like with Geoff blackmailing him, and he only does it to please the people he loves.”
Olivia did a mental double take. Who was this thoughtful adult pretending to be her brother? “There’s another problem, Jason,” she said. “Remember, the Duesenberg cookie cutter wound up in Geoffrey King’s hand. So we have to wonder, did it fall out of the killer’s pocket? Or did the killer or another person place it in his hand to implicate someone else?”
“No one will believe me,” Charlie said, hanging his head, “but I lost it. All I know is it disappeared. I looked all over for it so I could bring it back to The Gingerbread House.”
“That sounds pretty convenient,” Del said. He signaled to Cody, who stood in back of Charlie’s chair ready to arrest him.
“No!” Charlene linked arms with her brother. “Charlie had nothing to do with it. I put that tin thing in Geoff’s hand. It never occurred to me that you might have stolen it, Charlie, or I wouldn’t have.... I was trying to help you. When I found that Dues-whatever, I figured anybody could have dropped it in my store after shopping at The Gingerbread House, so I thought.... Oh, I don’t know what I thought. I wanted to confuse the police so they wouldn’t assume Charlie killed Geoff to protect me.”