Fudge Cupcake Murder

    'Nettie bought Suzie that chair because she's her grandmother,' Luanne blurted out, her eyes meeting Hannah's in an unwavering gaze. 'Jamie Grant was Suzie's father.'

    'I didn't know.'

    'No one knew, not even my mother.' Luanne gave a deep sigh. 'She doesn't know to this day. But now that you've tracked it down this far, I guess there's no point in keeping secrets.'

    Hannah winced, feeling as guilty as sin. 'I'm sorry, Luanne. I know it's your private business, but…'

    'You have to know,' Luanne finished the sentence for her. 'It's okay, Hannah. I'm sure you won't tell anyone you don't have to tell. Besides… the reason I couldn't tell anyone before is… uh… there's no polite way to way this, but… my reason is dead.'

    'Sheriff Grant?'

    'Yes. He threatened to cause all sorts of trouble if I told.'

    Hannah listened as Luanne filled in the blanks. The summer before she started her senior year at Jordan High, Luanne went with her mother to clean the sheriff's station. That's where she met Jamie, who was home from college. As Hannah nodded sympathetically, Luanne told her about the hot summer evenings when she'd walk out to meet Jamie at the end of Old Bailey Road. If they felt like going somewhere, they'd take in a movie at the mall, or go out to Eden Lake for a late night swim. Other times, when they wanted to be alone, Jamie would bring along a six-pack and they'd park on the old logging road that overlooked the lake. Luanne was thrilled to be dating a college guy and she saw Jamie almost every night for the two weeks before he left to go back to college.

    'I know I was foolish,' Luanne admitted with a sigh.

    'A lot of girls are at sixteen,' Hannah said, remembering how thrilled her high school friends had been when a Jordan High graduate who was now a 'college man' had come home for vacation and asked one of them out on a date. 'When did you discover that you were pregnant?'

    'Not until Jamie was gone. I wrote him a letter to tell him and I said I wanted to keep the baby. I really believe he cared about me and he would have done the right thing. Maybe we wouldn't have gotten married, but I know that he would have helped me with the baby. But the day after I mailed the letter, Jamie got killed in that car wreck. He never even got the chance to read it.'

    'What happened to your letter?'

    'Someone from the dorm boxed up all of Jamie's things, including the unopened letter from me, and mailed the box to the Grants.'

    'Did they open your letter?'

    'Yes, and both of them read it. Sheriff Grant made Nettie promise that she'd keep quiet about it and stay away from the baby.'

    'But why?' Hannah was shocked.

    'Because I'm trash… at least that's what Sheriff Grant called me.' Luanne took a deep breath and sat up a little straighten 'He said I got pregnant on purpose to trick Jamie into marriage. He even accused me of seducing Jamie.'

    Hannah gave a little snort. 'Number one, you know you're not trash. And number two, it takes two to tango.'

    'I know that. And so did Sheriff Grant, but he wouldn't admit it. He came out to the house to see me and he said that if I ever told anyone that I was carrying Jamie's baby, he'd make my life miserable.'

    'That's pretty harsh,' Hannah commented, her frown deepening.

    'I know. He was a harsh man. He told me that his son's name and memory were unblemished and he was going to make sure they stayed that way. He also said that if I was smart and I kept my mouth shut, he wouldn't have to change any personnel out at the sheriff's station.'

    Hannah was puzzled. 'What did he mean by that?'

    'My mother had a contract to clean out there three times a week. It was our main source of income.'

    Hannah felt sick. 'So he coerced you into silence by threatening to fire your mother?'

    'He didn't exactly threaten, at least not in so many words, but I knew he'd fire my mother in a heartbeat if I didn't cooperate.'

    'So that's why you kept silent about Suzie's father?'

    'That's one reason. The other reason is that it was nobody's business but Jamie's and mine. And Jamie was dead.'

    'So is Sheriff Grant,' Hannah said, her eyes narrowing slightly. 'It must be a relief now that he can't threaten you any longer.'

    Luanne swallowed hard. 'Not really. Remember when I dropped that umbrella stand? It was because I'm so scared. I'm in big trouble, Hannah, and the whole thing's bound to come out.'

    'About Suzie's father?'

    'That's just part of it. Once people find out that Sheriff Grant was threatening me, they'll think I killed him.'

    'Did you?' the question popped out before Hannah had time to squelch it.

    'No! Of course I didn't kill him!'

    'Then stop worrying about it.'

    'I can't. I'm going to be a suspect the minute somebody finds out about the fight I had with Sheriff Grant.'

    'Fight?' Hannah's ears perked up. 'When? Where? What did you fight about?'

    Luanne took a deep breath. 'The when was Monday night, and the where was the school parking lot. The what is that Nettie called me and offered me the other half of their duplex. Sheriff Grant found out about it and he was waiting for me when I pulled in the lot.'

    'Okay,' Hannah said, remembering the altercation that Kate Maschler had overheard between Nettie and Sheriff Grant 'Did you accept Nettie's offer?'

    'No. I wanted to, but I was worried about how Sheriff Grant would react. I told Nettie that we'd love to move in, but only if the sheriff said that it was okay.'

    Hannah already knew that Sheriff Grant had objected vehemently and that he'd fought with Nettie about it. 'Tell me everything that happened that night in the parking lot,' she instructed.

    'I wanted to go to your class that night, but a customer came in right before I was ready to lock up. I took care of him as fast as I could and then I drove straight over to the school. Sheriff Grant was there in the parking lot and he motioned me over to his car. He looked really mad.'

    'How could you tell that by just looking?'

    'Well… his face was all red and he was moving in that impatient way he has. You know… jerky. I didn't really want to talk to him, but I figured I couldn't walk right past him and ignore him.'

    'I understand,' Hannah said. 'Go on.'

    'I walked over to his car. He was eating something… I think it was a cupcake… and he put it in a bag on the seat. He said he knew that Nettie had offered me the duplex.'

    'What did you say?'

    'I tried to explain that I hadn't accepted, but he yelled at me and accused me of taking advantage of Nettie because she missed Jamie so much. And then he said that for all they knew, Jamie wasn't even the father and Suzie was somebody else's baby. And then he called Suzie a… a…'

    'Never mind,' Hannah interrupted quickly. 'I can imagine what he said. How did you react to that?'

    'I couldn't say anything. I was too choked up. He was just so horrible and he said such awful things to me. I knew I was going to cry, so I just ran back to my car and drove off as fast as I could.'

    'Where did you go?'

    'I drove back to Granny's Attic and just sat there for a while. I didn't want to face anybody until I calmed down. When I was through crying and I'd washed my face, I drove home.'

    'What time did you get there?'

    'A little before nine. I looked at the kitchen clock when I came in.'

    'And Sheriff Grant was still alive when you drove out of the school parking lot?'

    'Oh, yes,' Luanne said, shivering slightly. 'I saw him in my rearview mirror, standing next to his car and shaking his fist at me.'