“What, this stuff? It won’t affect me.”

  “I doubt that, but it is time to go.”

  He nodded and after saying goodbye to Sassy and making sure she could get home safely, they left to walk back to the shop. It was chilling out, much colder than when they had set out before, and Henrietta almost regretted not bringing a heavier scarf.

  “What do you make of all that?” Ralph said, his breath fogging out before him.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “What did the kid say?”

  Henrietta laughed. “You’ve got to stop referring to every person under forty as a ‘kid’ Ralph.”

  “I can’t help it if they decided to fill the Lead Detective role with a baby.” He made a face. While he and Abe hadn’t gotten along at all at first, they’d come around to a tenuous relationship of mutual trust.

  “He seems to think that this wasn’t accidental.”

  “Yup.”

  “You say that like you were already thinking that.”

  “I am a private detective. In case you’d forgotten.”

  “I had not,” she said, not giving him the satisfaction of even a sideways glance.

  “I happened to take a closer look at the fella’s chocolate.”

  “Oh?”

  “Before the police swarmed the place, of course.”

  “And what did you see?”

  “Lots, and I mean lots, of chili flakes.”

  “Flakes?”

  He nodded. “I mean, that thing could have knocked over a rhino.” She made a face and he shrugged. “You know what I mean.”

  “I’m afraid I do,” she said, though more to herself.

  “This doesn’t look good for Sassy.”

  “But she had no idea he was coming to the tasting. He didn’t fill out an online form and just showed up. Likely she would have taken the spicy chocolate off the menu had she known.”

  “Then the question becomes who did know he was coming and how did they swap out the chocolate for a tainted one.”

  Henrietta sighed. “This is getting complicated.”

  “More than it was?” Ralph asked as they neared the shop.

  “Yes. Sassy claimed that no one knew about her spicy chocolate as the last tasting. If that’s true, no one could have planned that but her.”

  “Eeesh.”

  “Indeed,” Henrietta agreed with Ralph’s sentiment.

  They arrived at the shop and Ralph bid her goodnight but not before reassuring her that they would keep looking into Calvin’s whereabouts in the next few days. She knew it was what they needed to do, it’s what she wanted to do as well, but the death tonight made Henrietta more worried about her friend and what the police might uncover and whether or not it would be true evidence or something planted.

  If there was one thing she knew, it was that Sassy Roberts was no murderer and if it looked like it had been done on purpose, someone was behind it and that meant someone meant to frame her friend. Something Henrietta would not let happen.

  4

  When Olivia showed up for work the next morning she looked tired and as if she still might be fighting off whatever had caused her illness the day before. But she insisted on working, no matter how many times Henrietta told her she could go home and she’d call in Jacob to work in her place.

  “If I’m not careful, Jacob’s going to take over my job,” she said with a smirk.

  “Never,” Henrietta countered. “He doesn’t have the degree you do nor does he have quite the same charm with customers.”

  Olivia grinned and began to catalogue a new shipment they had received the day before while Henrietta read the local newspaper. The death from the night before was, unsurprisingly, front page news.

  “A shame,” Henrietta muttered to herself.

  Olivia came up behind her and let out a breath. “That is so sad. Poor Sassy—to have an accident like that on your first tasting? I hope she can recover from that.”

  While Henrietta didn’t say it out loud, she hoped the same thing.

  “Was the rest of it good though?” Olivia asked with a grimace.

  “She was doing such a wonderful job. Each chocolate had a background and she explained the inspiration for each. It was just lovely all around, until the last course.”

  “And to think he was deathly allergic to chilies and that was her last course. What are the odds?” Olivia said it in an offhanded way that showed she wasn’t thinking of the ramifications of her statement, but Henrietta was.

  What exactly were the odds of that? High, that was for sure. And with that in mind, she put in a call to Olivia’s husband and Ralph’s son, Scott.

  “Hey Henrietta,” he said upon answering the phone on the second ring.

  She’d moved to the front room so as not to alert Olivia to her suspicions just yet. “I was wondering if you could do something for me.”

  “Uh oh,” he said in a joking manner. “I know whenever you say that I’m likely about to break a law of some sort.”

  “Now don’t say that,” she teased. “I just want to get a little background information on Mark Wharton.”

  “The guy who died last night at the tasting?”

  “Yes. That’s the one. I believe he’s also running for city council?”

  “You’re in luck,” he said and she heard his keys typing in the background. “Dad asked me to do the same thing so I’ve got a head start though it’s looking a little more involved than just a simple background check.”

  “Why is that?”

  “On the surface he looks legit. Normal life, bank account, business stuff, all of that, but when I hacked—er, looked into his computer and other bank records, I found some anomalies.”

  “As in?”

  “Offshore money. Possibly some shady business dealings hidden under a shell corporation. Stuff like that. I don’t have a full perspective on it yet though so you’ll have to wait a little longer.”

  Henrietta knew that patience was key in solving mysteries and it seemed this one would be no different. “Sounds good. Please call me when you can with what you know.”

  “You got it.”

  She ended the call and turned to look out the window just in time to see her sister rushing up the steps toward the front door.

  “Good morning, Clem,” she said as her sister rushed inside, pulling her scarf down from her neck.

  “Oh, Henrietta,” she said, the exasperation and dramatic nature of the way she said it putting Henrietta immediately on edge.

  “What is it?”

  “I just,” she shook her head, tossing her hands up in the air, “I just know you’re going to get sucked into another case and totally forget about Calvin.”

  This shocked Henrietta and she shifted from one foot to the other before answering her sister. “What makes you think that?”

  “I saw the paper. You’d mentioned to me yesterday you were going to that tasting and I know you’re friends with the shop owner. Something’s going to happen and you’ll be called in and—I just can’t live without knowing where Calvin is.”

  “Calm down, Clem.” Henrietta rested a hand on her sister’s shoulder.

  “Don’t tell me to calm down. This is my son we’re talking about.”

  In that moment it all came back to Henrietta. The way her sister had acted when they were little. If she didn’t get her way she’d become overly dramatic, just like this. It wasn’t necessarily a fault because, of course, she cared deeply about her son, but she also wasn’t seeing things in perspective.

  “Ralph is working on follow up from his trip right now, he texted me that this morning. I know that Jacob has agreed to help us with the new email address and tracking that as well. We need to be patient because things like this don’t work themselves out overnight.”

  Clementine sniffed. “I know, I just feel so helpless.”

  And there was the root of it all. Her sister didn’t know what she could do so she took it out on Henrietta. It wasn’t that Henrietta agreed with that, but at least she could understand where Clementine was coming from.

  “I understand, but I need you to trust us. Trust that we’ll let you know what happens and that we’ll keep you in the loop.”

  “But will you?” she pressed.

  Another good question. Ralph hadn’t told her everything, but it was precisely for this reason. Dramatic responses wouldn’t get them anywhere.

  “Yes, when the information is helpful.”

  Her sister’s eyes narrowed. “What does that mean.”

  “If something looks one way but isn’t proven, why share that theory until we’re certain. You must understand that with where you work. Doctor Swinson doesn’t give a guess about what might be wrong with his patients, he waits until the tests are in. Think of what we’re doing like that.”

  Clementine took a deep breath and let it out. “That does make sense.” Henrietta could tell her sister was calming down. “I’m sorry. I just spent so much of last night imagining the worst scenarios about Calvin and why he hadn’t contacted me. I mean, he had every means to do so and still has stayed away.”

  “He must have a good reason,” Henrietta added.

  “I suppose so. But…I’m his mom. Regardless of what happened when he was a kid, I hope he would know I love him.”

  Henrietta recalled some of what her sister had shared about Calvin’s childhood being somewhat chaotic, but she’d tried to make amends which had to count for something.

  “We’ll find him, and you can ask him those questions yourself.”

  Clementine offered a watery smile and Henrietta pulled her in for a hug. “Are you on a lunch break?” she asked when they pulled apart.

  “Yeah, I told them I needed to make an errand. They probably think I’m scatterbrained today but I just couldn’t focus. I needed to talk to you.”

  “Well please don’t worry. I think that last night’s incident was an accident and—” Her cell phone rang and she looked down at the caller ID to see it was a call from the police station.

  “What’s wrong?” Clementine said.

  “Nothing,” Henrietta said with a smile. “But I need to take this. Don’t worry, all right?’

  “I’ll try,” Clementine said before she turned to leave.

  Henrietta turned her back as she answered, “Hello?”

  “Henrietta?”

  “Sassy?”

  “Oh, my goodness, Henrietta. They took me in for questioning. I’m at the police station. I—I think they think I killed Mark.”

  5

  Henrietta walked the familiar sidewalk toward the police station. Not one to beat around the bush, Henrietta had told Sassy she’d be right down and had all but hung up on the woman. Clearly something was going on and she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

  At the front desk she was assigned a visitor’s pass and Detective Paige met her at the front door.

  “I figured she might call you,” he said, holding the door open for her.

  “Should she have called a lawyer first?” Henrietta asked, her bluntness no surprise to Abe.

  “I’m not one to advise on that but if she has nothing to hide what can be gained from lawyering up?”

  “You know as well as I do that sometimes even those who tell the truth get punished for it.”

  He gave her a conciliatory look and directed her toward his desk first. He motioned for her to have a seat and after clearing with her that she didn’t want any coffee or water, he perched on the edge of his desk.

  “You might want to ask your friend about Mark. The full story, perhaps?”

  “Will you be listening in?”

  “Undecided,” he said, though she had a feeling he wasn’t above snooping. Then again, if this was not a murder investigation, he’d have every right to find out everything he could.

  “Has she told you the truth?”

  “No, but I can see what it looks like.”

  It was on the tip of Henrietta’s tongue to ask what he meant but he continued.

  “Like I said, better to get the truth from your friend, but it doesn’t look good.”

  In that moment Henrietta made a decision. “If she’s all right with it, why don’t you come in and we can all talk.”

  “Uh, all right.”

  “But let me talk with her first?”

  “Of course.”

  He led Henrietta to an interrogation room and allowed her to enter. She knew there was a two-way mirror on one side but nothing she said would be too personal or would, hopefully, incriminate her friend. At least she didn’t think it would.

  “Oh, thank goodness you’re here, Henrietta.” Sassy stood and accepted Henrietta’s embrace. “I don’t know what is going on. It’s like my life has entered the Twilight Zone or something.”

  “Sassy,” she said, resting her hand on her friend’s arm. “I think you should talk to Detective Paige, with me here, and get the truth in the open.”

  “The truth?” she looked shocked but Henrietta rushed to explain.

  “I’m sorry, I don’t mean that you’re hiding something but I think there are some unanswered questions.”

  Her friend’s expression fell. “I think I know what you mean. Yes, that detective can come in. I’ll answer his questions. But I want you to stay.”

  “Absolutely.”

  Henrietta stepped out and motioned Abe in. He sat on the other side of Henrietta facing Sassy and deferred to what Henrietta would say.

  “Sassy, I know that all of this is…shocking. I don’t know the full extent either, but from the sound of it, there is more about Mark than what you’re letting on.”

  Sassy’s shoulders slumped and she nodded. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you last night, Detective Paige, but yes, there is more to the story.”

  “Why don’t you go ahead and tell me now?” he offered.

  She nodded and began. “I met Mark several years ago. He was actually my realtor who helped me purchase the shop.”

  Henrietta frowned. She remembered the time when Sassy was getting ready to open her shop and, if her memory served her, the process hadn’t been smooth.

  “But, before any of that,” Sassy said, interrupting Henrietta’s thoughts, “we had gone on a few dates. He was kind, funny, and took me to nice places. I was falling fast when he told me about the storefront opening.”

  “Sounds like things were going well,” Abe said.

  “They were, or so I thought. I’ll admit that I was more distracted by this potential relationship with Mark than I was about the details. Never again,” she shook her head.

  “What do you mean?” Henrietta asked.

  “I can’t prove that this was his motive, but it appeared that Mark had taken me on dates and distracted me with the thought of a relationship so that, when the time came for the deal on the storefront to go through, I didn’t look into it all that much. I mean, why should I? It’s why I had a realtor and one that was already dating me would surely have my best interests in mind, right?”

  “And he didn’t,” Abe guessed.

  “I should have gone with my gut and rented first, but something about owning my own place sounded perfect. Turns out that Mark skipped—or didn’t even do—half of the required inspections on the place. I signed the document and suddenly found myself saddled with a building that needed major maintenance and a phone number for Mark that only seemed to get me to his voicemail.”

  “He stopped seeing you then?” Henrietta clarified.

  “Yes. He dropped off the face of the earth, or so it felt like, and I found out through the grapevine that this wasn’t the first time he’d done this.”

  “And he was still able to keep his realtor’s license?”

  “Yes. I mean in my case I signed the documents, I wasn’t coerced in any way, at least no legally prosecutable way. I was stuck.”

  “What was the fallout for you?”

  “Thousands of dollars and nearly six months past the slated open time,” Sassy said matter-of-factly.

  “I bet that made you angry.”

  She looked up and made eye contact with the detective. “It did. I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t affected me, but just because I wasn’t happy with how things turned out didn’t mean I had reason to kill the man.”

  “From the way it looks you got your revenge.”

  Sassy flinched. “I didn’t even know Mark was coming to the tasting.”

  “What did you say to him when he showed up?” Henrietta asked.

  “I asked him what he was doing here and he said it was to see how I was doing. Something I didn’t believe for a second. I mean, I got the “Best Business” award two years ago and I heard nothing from him. But he wouldn’t admit to any other reason.”

  “Did you have cause to believe there could be another reason?”

  “No,” she said then frowned. “I mean, I felt like there was though by the way he avoided answering my questions. I mostly wanted to point out to him how ironic, in a terrible way, it was for him to show up like he had but he just kept saying he was there for the tasting.”

  “I see,” Abe made a note in his notebook.

  “You hadn’t seen him before last night?” Henrietta asked.

  “No.”

  Henrietta turned to look at Abe. “It seems to me that there was no way she could have planned for this to happen.”

  Abe finished making his note then looked up, first at Sassy then letting his gaze land on Henrietta. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we don’t tend to bring people into the station unless there is…evidence.”

  “What evidence?” Sassy asked.

  “My officers found your prints on the chilies that were placed in Mr. Wharton’s chocolate and—”

  “That was in everyone’s chocolate,” Sassy interrupted.

  “Miss Roberts,” Abe said more forcefully, “It was a different chili than the ones in the rest of the chocolate. The specific kinds that Mr. Wharton was allergic to.”

  Sassy’s mouth hung open but she didn’t say anything.

  “You’re saying that only his chocolate was laced with a certain pepper?” Henrietta clarified.

  “Yes. It looks very…deliberate.”