“I promise,” I swore to her, “I won’t let anyone hurt you. I’ll handle this.” I kissed her forehead and reluctantly released her.
“At least,” I heard Zoe say as she led her sobbing friend away, “we know Beatrice isn’t the murderer. No one’s going to poison themselves, right?”
19
EMMIE
“I’m ruined,” I groaned from the couch in the too-warm great room of the senior center.
Gran was plying me with alcohol and the box of cupcakes in fun flavors I was testing out. They all tasted like cardboard.
“Cora tells me you’re being hysterical,” Gran admonished as Cora came over with herbal tea for me. “There’s a line out of your café. Everyone wants to see where Beatrice was almost murdered.”
“Allergies!” I wailed. “She had allergies. The doctor used an EpiPen. No one was almost murdered today.”
Gran shoved the bottle of Winter Wonderland tequila, which tasted about as vile as it sounds, under my nose.
“Drink up.” She glugged the liquor into my mouth. “It still could have been a murder, you know.”
“I thought you were on my side,” I groaned as my grandmother tried to sponge frosting off my face.
“Emmie, are you all right?”
Marius’s face appeared in my blurry vision.
“I’m ruined. Abbott just published a story about the cupcake murderer striking again.” I waved my phone at him. “Also, he needs an editor. There are spelling mistakes. Ow!” I’d dropped the phone on my head.
Marius took it. “I just got back from the police station. It turns out Beatrice is deathly allergic to shellfish.”
“So she accidentally ate shellfish at someone else’s shop and had an allergic reaction at mine?”
Marius shook his head. “Someone in town—because of course this is a thing—has a pig that he uses to sniff out clams.”
“Andy.” I nodded. “He supplies Zoe’s restaurant.”
“There was shellfish in the sausage rolls… according to the pig, anyway.”
I sat up. “But I don’t use shellfish. And gross! Who puts shellfish in a sausage roll?”
“Don’t worry about the mystery. You need to rest,” Cora said, plumping up the pillows. “My grandmother says you woke up super early and were up all night.”
“Good news sure travels fast here.”
“You’re going to have a nervous breakdown if you’re not careful,” Cora warned.
Marius sat down across from me.
I settled back on the couch cushions as the crowd drifted off to see what food Cora had brought.
I wiped at my eyes and took another swig of the tequila. “Sorry I fell apart. I’m not a good crime-fighting partner, am I?” I laughed weakly.
“Cora’s right,” the lawyer said seriously. “You’ve had a rough week.” His large hand came up to trail through my tangled hair.
I was suddenly self-conscious about my disheveled state. I picked up another cupcake and took a bite. There was an explosion of orange and spice.
“This one is definitely going into the advent calendar for next week,” I said, my tongue flicking out to follow the motion. “Look at that!” I showed him the cupcake. “It’s, like, the perfect bite. I did good on this frosting.” I was babbling, and he tracked the motion, like a cat with a mouse, as I sucked the frosting off my fingers.
Marius watched me, assessing, two fingers on his chin.
