Peanut Butter and Jelly Murder Read online

  “Well, not if I desperately needed to make my own butter,” Amy said.

  “They do seem like quality items though,” Heather said. “Steeped in history. Maybe there’s something that’s worth the price tag for your new place.”

  They wandered amongst the antiques, enjoying the sights. If the story behind the item wasn’t apparent, they would make one up to amuse themselves. Amy came up with a very funny fish story about the swordfish statue mounted on the wall.

  They began to pay more attention to the items on the wall and saw that there were many signed photographs on display.

  “I wonder if there are any autographs Ryan would like,” Heather said, thinking about her husband. He wasn’t as big a sports fan as some men, but there were players that he admired.

  They followed the line of autographs and saw that the signatures became even more impressive as they got closer to the register counter. They were a few modern-day celebrities, but most of the autographs were older. There were signatures from historical figures, from film stars in the Golden of Hollywood, and from classic authors.

  “Who should we look for you to display?” Amy asked her friend. “Agatha Christie? Or Betty Crocker?”

  “This is a very impressive display,” Heather said. “Look. She even has a signature from Allen Wolfsmore.”

  “Very impressive,” Amy agreed. “Now who is Allen Wolfsmore?”

  Heather laughed. “He was an early crime novelist. He used to write stories about the mob, before the mob was really known about in the media. They were a little melodramatic, but helped pave the way for other stories.”

  “You know your history,” a voice said behind them.

  Heather shrugged. “I know a little about crime.”

  She and Amy turned to face the owner of the shop. Aunt Amelia was a short woman who seemed as if she had always looked the same age. She had a grandmother-like quality to her, but couldn’t have been much older than Heather. She had light bushy hair that she had tamed into a large ponytail and wore glasses that made her eyes look larger than they were. Her wardrobe matched her shop. It was made up of classic pieces that stood the test of time and still looked to be one of a kind.

  “And you have a fine eye,” Aunt Amelia said. “This Allen Wolfsmore is the most expensive item in my shop.”

  “Wow. I wouldn’t have thought that,” Amy said. “Because not everyone knows who he is…”

  “That’s true,” Aunt Amelia said with a smile. “But there is a niche market of his fans who are crazy about getting their hands on everything of his. There’s not a lot of people who need an Allen Wolfsmore autograph, but the true collectors would value this very highly. There are not many of his autographs out there, and this one is especially nice because it is on the title page of one of his books. I’m not sure what happened to the whole book, but the page looks so lovely framed.”

  The other woman nodded.

  “But you haven’t come here for my Wolfsmore,” Aunt Amelia said. “Is there something I can help you find?”

  “We’re just browsing,” Heather said. “We came with our friends who are looking for something for their home.”

  “What sort of thing?”

  “I think a piece of furniture or a vase. Taryn Turner suggested we come here and find something to complete the room.”

  “Taryn Turner did?” Aunt Amelia asked. “That’s very interesting.”

  However, before Heather could ask why that was interesting, Aunt Amelia has whisked them away to join Eva and Leila. The two housemates told Aunt Amelia how much they loved everything in her quaint, adorable shop, but how it was making their choice of what to add to their room rather difficult.

  “I have several vases that sound like what you’re searching for,” Aunt Amelia said. “I’ll show you my prized piece first. Partially because I enjoy showing it off. And then I’ll show you some other options that are also quite lovely.”

  Aunt Amelia bustled around the shop, looking for her prized vase. When she couldn’t find it, she paled.

  “Oh dear,” she said.

  “What’s wrong?” Eva asked.

  “I didn’t break anything,” Amy assured them, half-joking and half-serious.

  “Is something missing?” Heather asked, her mind immediately jumping to possible criminal activity. “Have you been robbed?”

  “No,” Aunt Amelia said. “I know exactly where it is.”

  Her eyes darted up solemnly. In the back area of the store was a loft section. It had to be accessed by a ladder and acted as an attic where more item could be held. However, it was completely walled off, so even on the ground level, you couldn’t see some of the antiques that were stored up there.

  Heather wasn’t sure why the woman looked so pale and nervous. Aunt Amelia wrung her hands together.

  “We don’t really need to see that particular vase,” Eva assured her, also unsure what had caused the woman to fret.

  “No. I don’t mind showing you,” Aunt Amelia said. “But perhaps one of you ladies would like to climb up there and bring down the red vase?”

  Heather agreed and started climbing the ladder. Part of her felt like she was climbing into a trap, but she reached the top without issue. She pulled herself over the ledge and into the loft area of the store. It was quite roomy. She stood up and found a red floral vase near a rocking horse.

  “I found it,” Heather called out.

  She walked over to the edge of the loft. Only a small railing separated her from a fall forward to the ground floor. She held onto her pottery closely and moved from the gap by the ladder to the rungs. She made her way down slowly. She handed the vase off to Amy as soon as she was low enough so that she could finish her descent with both hands.

  “Thank you so much,” Aunt Amelia said. “I do hate to ask that of a guest. But I hate heights so much. Even standing on my tiptoes can make me feel faint.”

  “Then why keep things up there?” Amy asked as she admired the red vase.

  “I have so many antiques they just don’t all fit right now. I used to have a boy who worked for me and would run up and down,” Aunt Amelia said. “But he stopped coming in. And I’m left to fend for myself.”

  “That’s a shame,” Amy said. She spun the vase around to look at the other side.

  “Please be careful, dear,” Aunt Amelia said. “That vase is over six hundred years old.”

  The shock of that knowledge nearly caused Amy to drop the antique, but she caught herself and handed it to Eva instead.

  “This is beautiful,” Eva said. “But I think it might be a little fancier than what we are looking for.”

  “Don’t worry,” Aunt Amelia said. “I can quite understand that. And I think I have some other vases that just might be perfect.”

  Aunt Amelia set the red vase down on the counter and led them towards another section of the shop.

  “She must really be terrified of heights,” Amy said. “If she were willing to let a hundreds-year-old breakable antique travel down a ladder with a complete stranger.”

  Heather agreed.

  In the end, Eva and Leila selected a blue and white vase that Aunt Amelia assured them Taryn Turner would approve of. Amy also found something for her new house, but it was a lot bigger than a vase. It was a huge desk with a pawprint design as a border.

  “Jamie will love it,” Amy said. “He adores animals. And this desk will be perfect if I want to start working on my artwork again.”

  “I think it’s a great piece,” Heather said. “But I don’t think it’s going to fit into my little car.”

  Heather thought of her red Chevy Spark and just couldn’t see how this monstrosity of a desk could be pushed inside in a way that would fit. Instead, they made arrangements to return the next day and pick up their items. With a little extra time, they could figure out how to transport the big desk and fragile vase.

  They left Aunt Amelia’s Antiques excited to return for their items the next day, and without the slightest fee
ling of dread for what was to come.

  Chapter 4

  “Did I inspire this donut, Mom?” Lilly asked the next day.

  Heather smiled back at her daughter. “Your lunches certainly did.”

  “It’s nice to be an inspiration,” Lilly giggled.

  “Okay. You two are sweeter than the donuts,” Amy said. “Now tell me all about them.”

  “All right,” Heather said, relenting and presenting a batch of her new flavored donuts to her friend. She was in the kitchen of Donut Delights and was about to bring the new creation out to the counter. Since school was out, Lilly was helping her mom in the donut kitchen that morning. They planned on going to Aunt Amelia’s Antiques that afternoon after working at the shop, so Amy was in the kitchen with them. Of course, she always liked to be around when new flavors were announced.

  It seemed that others were ready to hear the announcement as well. Her assistants Jung, Angelica and Emily Potts poked their heads into the kitchen.

  “Are we too late?” Jung asked.

  “Perfectly on time,” Heather said. “I didn’t even get to announce the name to Amy yet.”

  “Though believe me, I tried to get her to start talking so I could start tasting,” Amy joked.

  Heather smiled at her assistants and then paused. They were set to be very busy that day and most of the staff had been scheduled to come to work. Ken was off because he had been hired to take photos of meals at a local restaurant for their menu. His pictures on the Donut Delight’s website was starting to garner him some attention for other photography paid projects. However, Maricela had said she was available today and didn’t seem to have come in yet.

  “Is everything all right with Maricela?” Heather asked Angelica. They were cousins, so maybe she had some insider information.

  “I haven’t heard anything,” Angelica started.

  “It’s not like her to be late,” Heather stated.

  Angelica looked worried for a moment. Then she shook the thought away. “I’m sure she’s fine,” Angelica said. “If anything had happened, we would have heard. Between our loud family and your connections with the police force, there’s no way that we wouldn’t be informed.”

  “You’re right,” Heather said, and she was reassured so much that she felt she could describe the donut without any disrespect. “Introducing the Peanut Butter and Jelly Donut.”

  “I thought that was what I smelled,” Jung said. “But it still looks so sweet.”

  “It is more of a dessert than a lunch,” Heather said. “But it is inspired by the classic sandwich.”

  “And by me,” Lilly said.

  “And by Lilly who said I needed to create a lunchtime donut,” Heather agreed.

  “Of course, donuts are good all the time,” Lilly said. “But I thought a lunchtime donut was something nice to create. It could be brought to picnic lunches in the park.”

  “What’s the recipe for this?” Emily Potts asked. She had her notebook out and, like usual, was prepared to take notes on the new flavor.

  “I’ll give you the official recipe in a moment when we start baking enough for the morning rush. But for now, take a bite,” Heather said.

  “We thought you’d never ask,” Jung said.

  They all grabbed donuts, and each had a big bite of a Peanut Butter and Jelly donut.

  “Childhood never tasted so good,” Angelica said.

  “It definitely lives up to the name,” Emily Potts said.

  “This is fantastic,” Amy said. “I’m not looking forward to the turkey sandwich donut sequel. But then again, I bet you could make anything taste good.”

  “What type of jelly is this?” Jung asked.

  “It’s a grape jelly center.” Heather explained, “That seems to be one of the most popular jelly flavors on sandwiches.”

  “And it’s my favorite,” Lilly said. “I might have been persuasive.”

  “The base is a peanut flavored, but I made it so it wouldn’t be overpowering. With the jelly center, it should be balanced. And unlike the sandwich, it shouldn’t stick to the top of your mouth,” said Heather.

  “What’s this icing?” Emily Potts asked, looking up from her notes. “It’s tasty but unusual.”

  “It’s a peanut butter icing,” Heather said. “But there’s a hint of honey roasted flavor to the peanuts to add some sweetness.”

  “I’ll take a half dozen for lunch,” Amy joked.

  “Why don’t you take some to the counter?” Heather countered with a smile.

  The assistants helped Amy bring the donuts to the front of the house to add to the donut display. It was just about time for the morning rush to start, but the first person to run in through the door was Maricela.

  “You’re late today,” Heather said. “Is everything all right?”

  “I’m sorry, boss,” Maricela said. “It won’t happen again.”

  Heather groaned. She had hated being called “boss” instead of her name but had eventually grudgingly accepted it as teasing from her employees who felt more like family. However, when it was paired with Maricela’s apology, it made Heather feel like she had been an admonishing boss instead of someone who was worried about what had happened.

  “It’s all right,” Heather said. “You’ve worked for me since the beginning, and I don’t think you’ve ever been late. I just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong.”

  “Wrong? No. Nothing’s wrong. Nothing. No,” Maricela rambled. “Nothing.”

  “If you want to talk about anything, I’m here,” Heather said.

  “No. There’s nothing to talk about,” Maricela said, blushing a bit.

  Heather nodded and took the hint. She was a little hurt that Maricela didn’t want to confide in her, but didn’t want to feel like a prying boss that morning as well.

  She went to check on Lilly and then make sure that her other assistants understood how to make the new Peanut Butter and Jelly donuts. They had many orders that they had to fill that morning of both the new flavor and the regulars.

  “We’re getting so busy these days,” Jung said. “I don’t know if we can keep up with all the online orders you’ve been getting.”

  “It’s a good problem to have,” Heather said.

  “To be so popular,” Amy joked.

  “Still,” Jung said. “We have been cutting it close on some orders. Especially if a murderer is on the loose at the same time.”

  “Maybe you should open a second location,” Emily Potts offered. After she had said it, she looked down, afraid that she had been too forward.

  “Maybe I should,” Heather said to reassure her. She considered it. Two donut stores would mean double the delights, and it would be easier to fill the online orders. But could Hillside really handle two donut shops? She might just end up in competition with herself here.

  She was still mulling it over when Eva and Leila ran into the shop. She was about to fill a plate with the new flavor, as was the custom when her favorite customers arrived, but they interrupted her.

  “Heather, did you hear?” Eva asked.

  Heather knew that something was wrong when they ignored the donuts. Their words confirmed it.

  “Aunt Amelia is dead!”

  Chapter 5

  “I don’t understand why we weren’t called in on this case,” Heather said. She crossed her arms and faced her detective husband, Ryan.

  Ryan had been calling Heather and Amy in to consult on murder cases in Hillside ever since they got their PI licenses (and Heather had helped with cases before that too, though that was much to his chagrin.)

  “Did we do something wrong?” Heather asked.

  “Was this an easy case and you finally didn’t need us anymore?” Amy asked, also crossing her arms.

  Ryan looked helplessly from the two of them and then over to Eva and Leila. Heather had asked her assistants to watch Lilly while she went to check on what had happened to Aunt Amelia. Lilly was happy to stay with the friendly staff and have some more do
nut snacks. However, Eva and Leila didn’t want to be left behind while Heather ran to the police station. They had also met Aunt Amelia the day before and cared about what had happened.

  “Don’t look at us,” Eva said.

  “We’re very upset that Amelia was killed,” Leila said. “We think you should have your best help on this case.”

  “And, of course, that means Heather and Amy,” Eva said. “They’ve solved so many cases.”

  “Over fifty, I think,” Leila agreed.