“Hello? Hello?” I said. “You’re breaking up. Can you hear me? I’m in my car.” With that, I hung up.

  Matilda patted me on my back. “You’re becoming quite good at this,” she said. “Only you’re too young for Miss Marple, although I am the right age. Good work Jane. So it is true—Barry Jones was the vic’s driver and he was sick that day.”

  I had to admit I was quite pleased with myself for finding out the information.

  Matilda was still talking. “You know, migraines can be brought on by allergies. What if Stephanie slipped him something to bring on his migraine so he couldn’t drive that day, and Brooks went with him and gave him the poison?”

  “It’s entirely possible, I suppose,” I said, “although this is getting awfully convoluted.”

  “If it wasn’t so convoluted, the police would have figured it out by now,” Matilda pointed out. “Let’s look at the facts. Someone administered the poison to the vic. We know it wasn’t in the chocolate cupcake he ate in Rebecca’s store, so it must have been in a savory cupcake.”

  “What makes you think the poison was in a cupcake?” I asked her.

  “Because Wanda Hershberger’s daughter reported that there was only a small amount of food in the vic’s stomach. If he’d had a big meal of bacon, then there would have been more bacon in his stomach. However, it was a small amount which suggests it was something like a savory cupcake, given the fact it was combined with chicken, cheese, and more importantly, truffle. Bacon White Truffle cupcakes are sold at a bakery in this town.”

  “You really are good at this, Matilda,” I said with admiration.

  She afforded me a wide smile, and then said, “What shall we do next?” Before I could answer, she added, “I think we should head to William and Mia Willow’s store. The vic went there first, and we need to ask them if he was with anyone.”

  “Good idea,” I said, but I couldn’t shake the strange feeling that I had missed something.

  Chapter 21

  When I got back to Rebecca’s store, she said, “You didn’t miss anything, Jane. Hardly anyone has been in today. I had one rush of customers, but then nothing since.”

  “That’s a relief,” I said. “I didn’t like running out on you again.”

  “You more than make up for it with the baking,” Rebecca said. “That’s a big load off my mind.”

  Eleanor came down the stairs. “I thought I heard you there.”

  “You did lock your cat up, didn’t you?” Rebecca said with a quick look at the door.

  “Yes, I think he’s feeling guilty. He just knocked something else off the top of the kitchen cupboard.”

  Matilda made a tut-tutting sound. “I thought we agreed not to put anything up high that could possibly fall since he likes to knock things over!”

  Eleanor folded her arms over her chest. “Really, Matilda, how on earth would I know that Mr. Crumbles was going to be able to climb up that high! I had no idea how he managed to do it. It’s not my fault he’s a modern day Houdini.”

  Matilda rolled her eyes. “Oh really Eleanor, everybody knows Houdini was an escape artist. He didn’t climb up on furniture and knock things over.”

  Eleanor frowned. “ Matilda, you pick on everything I say.”

  Rebecca shot me a look and then said, “So how did your sleuthing go today? Did Stephanie realize you were the same person that she saw last time?”

  “She had no idea at all,” Matilda told her. “You know, the more I think about it, the murderers are definitely Stephanie and Brooks.”

  “I don’t think they were in it together,” I said. “I think it’s the son.”

  “Whatever makes you say that?” Eleanor asked me.

  Before I had a chance to answer, Matilda spoke. “Think of it this way. Brooks had a bad relationship with his father. Maybe his father said he wanted nothing more to do with him and Stephanie was afraid he would cut Brooks out of the will. His father just happened to die before he was able to cut Brooks out of the will. What do you think of that?”

  “I don’t think that really helps us,” I said. “If Colin Greaves cut his son out of the will, then he would have left the son’s share to the mother, and after Greaves died, Stephanie would have simply given it to her son.”

  Matilda looked downcast. “Actually, that hadn’t occurred to me. You’re right. Still, Brooks and his father didn’t get on at all well and it’s clear that Stephanie wanted Brooks back home.”

  “But would she actually murder her husband just because he was mean to her son and wouldn’t allow him in the house?” Eleanor said. “It seems a bit extreme to me.”

  “Murder is always extreme,” I pointed out. “Besides, that wasn’t the only reason Stephanie was upset with her husband. She had a private detective investigating him, and had found out only recently that he was having an affair with Iris Ogilvie.”

  Matilda shook her head. “You heard her say that her marriage had been over for years.”

  “That’s assuming she told us the truth,” I said. “She is hardly going to say she was devastated about the affair because that would give her a motive.”

  “Let’s look at what we do know.” Matilda tapped on the countertop for attention, despite the fact we were all listening to her. “It had to be someone who had access to wolfsbane. We have access to wolfsbane, but we know it wasn’t us. William and Mia Willow have access to wolfsbane. It could have been them. Stephanie and Brooks had access to wolfsbane, and what’s more, Stephanie was a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner before she met her husband so she would have the knowledge to process the wolfsbane.”

  “But does it need much processing?” I asked her. “Aren’t the leaves and the roots poisonous?”

  Eleanor nodded. “Quite so. I think what Matilda means is that Stephanie could have processed it into a really nasty dose.”

  “You don’t need to speak for me,” Matilda said. “I myself am quite capable of explaining what I mean.”

  I spoke quickly to avoid another argument. “As far as we know, Iris Ogilvie and her husband Richard Ogilvie didn’t have access to wolfsbane.”

  “Yes, that’s true,” Matilda said. “Do you think we can cross them off our list?”

  I nodded. “I do. It’s a coincidence that several of us have wolfsbane, but it would be far too much of a coincidence if one or both of the Ogilvies knew the other suspects had access to wolfsbane and actually framed one of us.”

  Eleanor frowned. “And if they were trying to frame one of us in particular, then they did a very bad job.”

  “That’s the cleverest thing you’ve said all day, maybe all year,” Matilda said to her sister.

  Eleanor looked confused. No doubt she was wondering whether it was a compliment or an insult. I know I sure was wondering. I turned to Rebecca.

  “If you think I’ve got time between customers, I’ll just pop out and speak with William Willow.”

  “What do you possibly have to ask him now?” Rebecca said.

  “I want to know if he saw anyone with Colin Greaves,” I told her. “Maybe Colin Greaves came in with someone.”

  Matilda interrupted me. “No, of course he wouldn’t have. Whoever poisoned Colin Greaves would have been sure to stay out of sight.”

  “I’m still asking. You never know,” I said.

  I half expected Eleanor or Matilda to want to come with me, but Eleanor wanted to wash her hair, no doubt so she could put a fresh batch of rollers in it, and Matilda said it was time for her hot yoga class.

  It was a pleasant walk to the health food store owned by the Willows. When I walked in, I didn’t see any customers, and William and Mia were clearly arguing. I cleared my throat to alert them to the fact I was there, and then abruptly sneezed when the incense tickled my throat.

  They stopped arguing at once and both plastered smiles on their faces. “How are you today, Jane?” Mia asked me.

  “I’m a little concerned because the police questioned us all again last evening,” I told them.

  They both looked shocked. “What, not again?” Mia said.

  “They didn’t question either of you yesterday?” I said.

  They both shook their heads. A customer walked in and immediately asked them a question. Mia took the lady aside to discuss her health issues.

  “William, I wanted to ask you if you ever saw anyone with Colin Greaves.”

  William rubbed his chin. “What do you mean?”

  I did not know how to put it any more plainly. “I mean, was he ever accompanied by anyone?”

  William shook his head. “No one at all. He was always alone.”

  “Did you ever see anyone in the car with him?”

  “I never saw his car,” William said. “He always came in here alone.”

  Another dead end, I thought. Aloud, I said, “Did you know he had a driver?”

  “Oh yes, I knew that,” William said. “The man had terrible migraines.”

  It was my turn to be surprised. “How did you know that?”

  William looked up from rearranging bottles. “Mr. Greaves told me of course. We always discussed his driver’s migraines. Mr. Greaves occasionally bought Sheng Jiang, Bai Shao, and Gan Cao for his driver.”

  “I didn’t realize Colin Greaves was into alternate medicine or herbal remedies.”

  “Oh yes. He said his wife was a Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioner and that’s how they met. He was originally a client of hers, you see.”

  Of course I knew that. It made sense that as he used natural remedies before he met his wife, that he would continue to do so.

  “Did the Chinese herbs work on his driver?”

  William smiled. “Yes, I believe they did, not to the extent where he could still drive, mind you, but Colin Greaves said it brought the man significant relief. He still had to rest up, but he wasn’t in the terrible state he would have been in otherwise.”

  “It sounds like you were quite friendly with Mr. Greaves.”

  William frowned, or more like scowled. “Not really. We were amicable enough, but he was putting considerable pressure on us to sell.” His face brightened and he added, “But he did buy products from us every time he came here to try to force us to sell the shop.”

  “And you said he didn’t ever threaten you?”

  William shook his head. “Not explicitly, although he made it clear enough that it wouldn’t be good for us if we didn’t sell to him. He always said it in a joking manner, but he made it clear that it was no joke.”

  “If you had to hazard a guess, who would you say murdered him?”

  William scratched his head. “I’m completely stumped on that one. It couldn’t have been his driver because he had a migraine that day.”

  I thanked him and left. I headed back to my sister’s store, discouraged. William had not given me any useful information, and I still had no idea who had killed Colin Greaves. One thing was for certain—I had to figure it out in a hurry before the police arrested me.

  When I reached the apartment, I unlocked the apartment door and had opened it ever so slightly when a gray and white streak ran between my legs.

  “Oh no!” I cried, as Mr. Crumbles ran away as fast as he could, his tail fanned out. I pulled the door shut, locked it, and took off after him. I sprinted around the corner straight into a hard body, and recoiled in horror.

  It was the man who had been following me.

  Chapter 22

  “I’ll scream if you don’t get away from me,” I told him, trying to sound brave, though I heard my voice quivering.

  I was trembling.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, Mrs. Delight,” he said.

  “Miss,” I said automatically. “The police know you’re following me. Why have you been following me? Do you intend to murder me too?” My voice broke.

  His eyebrows shot skyward. “Murder? Of course not.” He reached into his coat pocket. I gasped and backed up, my palms pressed into the cold brick wall.

  Instead of a gun, he pulled out a card and handed it to me. “I’m a private investigator,” he said.

  I looked at the card. On it was written:

  Arthur Cole, Private Investigator. Cheap rates. No job is too small or too big.

  I was a little concerned that the card was printed on awfully thin paper and looked unprofessional, although maybe he just had a low budget.

  “Did my husband pay you to follow me?” I asked him. “Does he think I’m going to get a lawyer and contest the pre-nup?”

  Arthur Cole frowned so hard his brows formed a unibrow. “I’m afraid I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Don’t play dumb with me,” I said, gaining a little courage now that I knew he was a private investigator rather than someone sent to harm me. “Then who paid you to follow me if it wasn’t my husband?”

  “I thought that was obvious,” he said, scratching his head. “Colin Greaves.”

  “Colin Greaves sent you to follow me?” I said. “But he’s dead.”

  “I was paid in advance,” he said, nodding as he spoke.

  “But then who do you report your information to since Greaves is dead?”

  “Obviously, the person or persons who have taken over his business still want the information,” he said, “and they shall remain nameless.”

  “What could Colin Greaves have possibly wanted to know about me?” I said. “I don’t own the store. I mean, surely it was because he was trying to buy the store from my sister? The store is owned by my sister and her husband. It’s got nothing to do with me. How would investigating me help Mr. Greaves?”

  He shrugged. An air of indifference clung to him, as did the unpleasant smell of stale cigarette smoke and some sort of alcohol, maybe gin. “I only do what I’m told to do. Mr. Greaves wanted you investigated as well as your sister. You’re non-Amish, so he thought you might be influencing her not to sell.”

  “I don’t understand,” I said. “What could you possibly find out about me that would have made my sister sell the store to him?” I could feel a headache coming on. This wasn’t making much sense. If only Matilda was here to make sense of it all, but she would probably simply quote Miss Marple.

  Arthur Cole spoke in a slow drawl. “He thought he might find out a piece of juicy information about you too that he could use to encourage your sister to sell the store.”

  I thought that over. Slowly, it dawned on me. “Oh, I see. If you found out I was running from the law or something like that, Colin Greaves could have blackmailed my sister to sell the store to him. Otherwise, he’d give that knowledge to the police.”

  Cole fixed his eyes on me. “You’re not as silly as you look, Mrs. Delight.”

  “Just call me Jane,” I said. I was weary from correcting everyone to ‘Miss’. “Well then, what did you find out about me?”

  He made a guttural sound. “Only about your boring marriage. No offense intended.”

  “None taken,” I said. “And of course you would never find anything bad about my sister since she is Amish.”

  “I wasn’t really expecting to find out anything about your sister and nor was Greaves,” he said. “It was the others he wanted to know about.”

  Something occurred to me. “Hang on a moment. You said you wanted to get some dirt on me too. Does that mean you found something incriminating about someone else?”

  “I’m sure I didn’t say that,” he said.

  I jabbed my finger at him. “You most certainly did. You said too.”

  His face flushed beet red. “You’re mistaken.”

  I waited a while, but he said nothing more. “Do you intend to keep following me?”

  “That’s privileged information,” he said, “but I haven’t been able to find anything about you. Following you hasn’t turned up anything at all, and I will be reporting that back to my employers.”

  “Let me guess,” I said. “Stephanie and her son, Brooks.”

  “You know I can’t tell you,” he said.

  I put my hands on my hips and gave him my best stare, to no avail.

  “Well, I’ll be on my way. Good day to you, Mrs. Delight.”

  With that, he turned away and slipped back into the shadows. It was then I remembered I was looking for Mr. Crumbles. It was certainly not safe for the little cat to be out.

  “Mr. Crumbles!” I called, followed by “Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” in pleading tones.

  I walked around for another five or so minutes trying to find him. I finally spotted him heading in the direction of William and Mia’s store. From a distance, I saw Mia leave with another lady, and before the store door shut, I saw Mr. Crumbles slip inside. I called out and waved my arms at Mia, but she didn’t hear or see me.

  I ran as fast as I could to the store and was out of breath by the time I got there. Maybe I really should start working out. William was in the process of shutting the door as I burst through. He shut it behind me and flipped the sign to Closed. “Jane,” he said. “We’re closed for the day. Is there anything I can do for you?” Irritation was stamped all over his face.

  “I’m terribly sorry, but my roommates’ cat just ran in here,” I said. “I saw your wife leave with another lady and the cat slipped in. I called out, but she didn’t see me.”

  William pursed his lips. “Cats? I don’t like cats. Pets are nothing but a nuisance and they are a waste of money. Besides, what will the health inspector do if he catches the cat in my store?”

  “I’m so terribly sorry,” I said. “I would have caught him by now only that private detective delayed me.”

  William suddenly froze to the spot. “What do you mean?”

  “You know, that private detective who Colin Greaves sent to spy on us?”

  William’s whole demeanor changed. His eyes narrowed into slits. “Are you trying to be funny, Jane?”

  “Not at all,” I said, indignant. “I had no idea who he was and I’d even called the police about him. It’s just I actually ran into him then—I mean literally ran into him. I ran around the corner, looking for the cat, and ran straight into this man. He gave me his card. It said he was a private detective. He said he’d been looking for dirt on both of us.”