Virginia Lowell - A Cookie Before Dying

Olivia grabbed a handful of carrot sticks and bit off several tips at once.

“Livie, I promise I’m going somewhere with this. You see, Adele was a lot like Maddie—enthusiastic, full of energy and ideas. But a few months before the accident, she began to change. She grew quieter and much thinner and—this is significant, I think—she started painting with blues and purples.”

Olivia dropped the carrots on her plate. “You think she was depressed? Or drinking, maybe?”

“I saw no evidence of drinking, but who knows? Mostly, she seemed terribly sad. I tried to question her about it the last time I ever saw her. She was vague, but she did say something about her husband having some problems. Apparently, she never shared her situation with anyone else from my circle, so I can only guess at what was going on. I did wonder if her husband was having an affair. Has Maddie ever talked about that time with you?”

Olivia shook her head. “All she’s ever said is that her memory is a blur for the period surrounding the accident. Maddie doesn’t like to dwell on anything that makes her feel sad. She’s fine with anger, as you know. But even when her high school sweetheart Bobby suddenly broke off their engagement, she reacted more with panic. We agreed that Bobby had acted like a jerk, and Maddie recovered in record time.” Olivia divided the remaining coffee between their cups and added milk and sugar to hers. She picked up a half-eaten carrot from her plate and wrinkled her nose. “I could use a cookie.”

“Me, too,” Ellie said. “I suppose there aren’t any left downstairs?”

“Cleaned out. However, not to worry, I always keep a small stash in the fridge. Because you never know. . . .”

“Absolutely. Besides, I have more information to share.”

“I’ll put another pot of coffee on,” Olivia said. She gathered up the tired-looking vegetables and headed toward the kitchen. By the time the coffee was ready, she had chosen four decorated cookies in shapes as unlike fruits and vegetables as possible. She returned to the living room with the refilled tray, only to find Ellie balanced on one leg in a yoga position. Spunky was stretched over her foot as if he were worried she might fall over.

Her eyes closed, Ellie said, “Just a few more seconds, dear, and I will tell you what I’ve learned about Charlene, poor child.”

“No problem, Mom. I’ll eat one of your cookies while I’m waiting.”

Ellie’s only response was a serene smile. After another twenty or so seconds, she relaxed and opened her eyes. “Now I feel more centered,” she said, settling cross-legged on the sofa.

“Your balance is impressive,” Olivia said, “given your advanced age.”

“Thank you, dear.” Ellie’s small, slender hand hovered over the cookies and finally landed on a yellow heart shape decorated with dark pink curlicues. “Now, about Charlene Critch. I had a revealing chat with your brother after he and Charlene finished their little talk. Jason tried to be evasive, but as his mother I was able to read between the lines.”

“Jason couldn’t be evasive if you swiped his favorite wrench and held it for ransom.”

“Which did make my task easier.” Ellie savored a small bite of her cookie before saying, “Jason does like Charlene very much, as you said.”

“I said he’s besotted.”

“Be that as it may, Jason sees another side of Charlene that you and Maddie do not. To him, she is vulnerable and sweet. I suspect Charlene is more comfortable with men than women, which is hardly surprising given how critical her mother, Patty, could be.” Looking pensive, Ellie nibbled on her heart cookie.

Olivia worked on an orange-and-purple butterfly cookie, determined to be patient with her mother’s unique delivery.

Ellie polished off her cookie and said, “I gathered from Jason that the abusive man in Charlene’s past has followed her to Chatterley Heights. Jason let slip the name Geoffrey. I suspect he is her ex-husband, the boy Jason introduced her to all those years ago. I assume you noticed Charlene’s bruised eye?” When Olivia nodded, Ellie said, “I asked Jason point-blank about the eye, but he said she was shelving some new items and hit her cheek on the corner of a shelf. He was lying, of course. I always know when Jason is lying; his left eyelid twitches.”

“You are scary, Mom.”

“Thank you, dear.”

“What about Charlene’s brother, Charlie?” Olivia asked. “Could he be the one abusing her? He seems devoted to her, but that could be a sign of possessiveness.”

Ellie pulled her knees up to her chest and leaned back against the sofa. Olivia felt a twinge of envy about her mother’s flexibility. Maybe yoga wasn’t such a revolting idea.

“I’ve seen Charlene and Charlie together, and I’ve never noticed possessiveness on the part of either of them,” Ellie said. “In fact, I saw them yesterday morning. I was having an early breakfast at the Chatterley Café, and the two of them were there. They seemed deep in serious conversation, as if they were trying to solve a pressing problem. By the way, I noticed that Charlene paid the bill.”

Having dispatched her second cookie, Olivia settled back to sip her coffee. “That fits with what Struts Marinksy told me. Charlie doesn’t seem to have any money, despite his inheritance.”

“Interesting,” Ellie said, checking her watch. “However, I’ve missed my voice lesson, and my classics reading group starts in half an hour. I need to pick up my copy of Sense and Sensibility on the way.” She unrolled her petite body from the sofa and shook out the wrinkles in her loosely draped outfit. “We can both keep an eye on Charlene’s safety, but there isn’t much else we can do. Jason said she refuses to talk to the sheriff.”

“I can at least mention to Del that someone might have blackened her eye,” Olivia said. “Even if she denies it, he should know.”

“You realize that Charlene will blame Jason for telling.”

“I’ll be discreet. After all, I’m not the only one who noticed the bruise.”

Since Spunky had been stuck in the apartment all day, Olivia took him out for a short, brisk walk before returning to The Gingerbread House. It was near closing time, and Maddie was the only one left in the store. Olivia could hear her singing snatches of tunes along with her iPod. Spunky had learned to open the kitchen door by running at it full speed and flinging his little body against it. Olivia heard Maddie’s squeak of surprise when Spunky tumbled inside.

Maddie poked her upper body through the door, held out a squirming dog, and said, “Does this belong to you?”

“Never saw it before in my life,” Olivia said.

“One day he’s going to break his tiny neck.” The instant Maddie plunked Spunky on the ground, he took off like a furry rocket and raced around the store. Watching the blur, Maddie said, “If he destroys any of our displays, I’ll break it for him, the little darling.”

Olivia laughed. “You would act just like Spunky if you’d been kept prisoner all day. How were sales?”

“Great! I will leave the counting to you, as always. You do the boring stuff, and I do the fun stuff. It works. And as resident gifted baker, I am about to tackle the cookies for Gwen and Herbie’s baby shower tomorrow evening. Yes, I know, I should have them all cut out, baked, and in the freezer ready for icing, but things got a bit hectic.” Maddie stuck her iPod buds in her ears and turned her back on Olivia. While Maddie gathered ingredients and equipment for the cookies, Olivia collected the day’s receipts and settled at her little kitchen desk. She’d hoped to talk with Maddie about Lucas’s proposal and Charlene’s response to their “harvest” cookie event, but she could tell the moment wasn’t right. Maddie hadn’t even brought up Charlene’s bruised eye. When Maddie closed the door, it couldn’t be blasted open with dynamite.