Assault and Batter(34)

“What’s the rush? Funny, but I don’t smell smoke anywhere,” she said as she tried to keep up with my agitated pace. “Is there a fire somewhere I don’t know about?”

“Read this,” I said as I handed her Emily’s note to Jude.

Grace whistled as she read the front, so I added, “Now turn it over.”

“Why did Gabby give this to you and not the police?” Grace asked me as she handed the baggied note back to me.

“Should I stop and call Chief Martin?” I asked as I stopped walking abruptly.

It took Grace a second to stop her forward progress as well. “No. You need to find out what this means yourself. Suzanne, Emily will tell you what’s going on a long time before she’ll tell the police. You need to handle this yourself. As a matter of fact, I don’t even think that I should go in with you. This has to be between the two of you.”

“We both know that Chief Martin is going to be justifiably upset when I turn it over to him,” I said.

“Maybe so, but if you can tell him what Emily says to you, it might just make up for it.”

We were in front of the newsstand too soon for my taste. “So, you honestly believe that I should try to find out what happened first myself, right?” I asked.

“Go on. If any customers are inside, run ’em out. I’ll stand guard out here so no one else can get in.”

I didn’t even question Grace about how she might do that. The woman had an imagination that could run circles around mine when she put her mind to it.

“Here goes nothing,” I said as I took a deep breath and walked through the door.

At least no one else was inside but Emily.

“Suzanne, what a pleasant surprise,” she said, and then she saw the expression on my face. “Or is it? Something’s up, isn’t it? Are you going to have to back out of making my wedding donuts?”

Wow, if that was the most serious problem she thought she had, Emily was in for a big surprise. “No, it’s not that. Emily, we need to talk.”

“Okay,” she said. “I was about to lock up early so I could work on some wedding plans. Should I lock the door?”

“You can, but I’ve got Grace standing guard outside.”

“This is serious,” she said as she sat back on her stool by the register. The three stuffed animals—Cow, Spots, and Moose—were watching over us, and I could swear that the three of them were looking down on me with disapproval.

“Explain this to me,” I said as I handed her the baggied note.

She didn’t even have to read it, once she saw her own handwriting. I saw her frown deeply before she managed to suppress it. “Where did you get this?” she asked carefully.

“Do you recognize it?” I asked.

“Of course I do. It’s my handwriting, after all. I don’t have a clue who I wrote it to, though. It had to have been ages ago.”

That sounded like a big fat lie to me. “Emily, it was discovered among Jude Williams’s things today.”

She bit her lower lip, and then Emily tried to laugh it off. “This? It’s nothing. I must have written it a long time ago. Suzanne, you know that Jude and I used to go out. Why should it surprise anyone that I wrote him a note at one point asking him to meet me at my shop?”

“Turn it over and look at the date,” I said as I tapped the note.

As she did, Emily’s face went ashen. “It doesn’t mean anything,” she said as she threw it in the trash.

After I retrieved it, I said, “That’s not the only copy, so getting rid of it wouldn’t have done you any good.” I softened my voice as I asked her, “Emily, what’s going on here?”

She was trapped, and she knew it. “Suzanne, it’s not what it looks like.” She was begging me to believe her, but I had to harden my heart.

“Then tell me what it means,” I said plainly.

Emily looked at me as though I’d just slapped her. “You think I killed him, don’t you?”

“I don’t know what to think,” I said. “That’s why I came here to see you instead of turning this incriminating evidence directly over to the police.”

“Should I thank you for that?” Emily asked, snapping at me. “At least I expect them to doubt me.”

“I’m just looking for answers,” I said, wondering just how sound my reasoning had been for coming in there before turning the note over to the police chief. “Talk to me, Emily.”

“I didn’t do it,” she said, her voice faltering. “Suzanne, you’ve got to believe me. Destroy that note, don’t tell anyone about it, and I’ll be forever in your debt. I’m begging you. Please.”