Sweet Ginger Poison

killer.

Chapter 15

Early Monday, Silvy quietly slipped in the back door from the alley and walked down the hallway to his office.

Bull Crawley looked up from his computer. The forty-year-old bald head, along with the six-foot tall, double- wide frame made him look like a washed up pro wrestler. “Morning, Honeysuckle.”

Silvy was not fond of the nickname he had given her. But she was in no position to complain. “Good morning, Bull.”

“So, what’s my pain-in-the-butt brother up to this morning?”

“He’s already selling coffee cakes. Actually, they’re jumbo muffins. But he’s calling them cupcakes.”

“Really? Good. He’ll be out of business soon—and in jail, where he belongs.”

“I’m not so sure,” said Silvy.

“How long you think it’s gonna take for somebody to realize that his cupcakes taste just like Ginger’s coffee cakes?”

“But that’s just it—they don’t.”

“Why not? Didn’t he follow the recipe?”

“Yes. And I helped him. We started with the Sweet Ginger Cake. He wanted to try just one recipe at first to see how it goes over. And we followed the recipe very carefully. I don’t know what went wrong.”

“Maybe you baked them too long, or at the wrong temperature,” said Bull.

“No. We did everything exactly according to the recipe.”

“Well, if they don’t taste right then why is he trying to sell them? That’s crazy.”

“Because Cash can’t tell the difference. He thinks they’re fine. He has no sense of taste.”

“That’s true.” He grinned. “Except in women.” He got up from his chair and walked around to her.

“How about working me into your busy schedule today?” he said, putting his big, hairy arms around her.

“I could probably take a break at around 3:30.”

“You work way too hard for that putz.”

She smiled. “Well, this afternoon when I come back I’ll work hard for you.”

“Yeah, but you’ll only stay ten minutes. He gets you all night long.”

She faked a pout. “Don’t blame me. This is what you wanted.”

“No, not really. But it’s the only way I knew to keep up with what he’s doing. Cash is determined to steal all my customers.”

“Oh, come on now, Bull. He’s nowhere close to doing that.”

“Well, I just don’t trust him.”

“You’ve got nothing to worry about, Baby.” She nearly choked on the word ‘Baby.’ “I’ve got everything under control.”

“That’s what I love about you, Honeysuckle.” He pulled her small, firm body close and kissed her hard.

She nearly gagged. How much longer would she have to endure this nasty little charade?

**********

Lacey delivered two cups of coffee to Ginger and Elijah’s table.

“Thank you, Lacey,” said Ginger.

“Yes, Ma’am. You’re welcome.” She smiled politely and walked away.

“Things are pretty tense around here, I guess,” said Elijah.

“Yeah,” said Ginger. “And I just don’t know what to do about it. I tossed and turned all night trying to think of who else might have wanted to kill Navy.”

“Maybe it’s some otherex-girlfriend—could be somebody from Dallas. Who knows what all he was into over there. Maybe he owed money to a loan shark.”

“You’re right. It could be somebody from out of town. All I’m thinking about is the people here in Coreyville.”

“You can’t let it make you crazy, Ginger.”

“I know. But look at her.”

Elijah glanced over at the counter where Lacey was waiting on a customer.

“Do you really think she’s capable of murder?” said Ginger.

“You can’t always go by looks. Think about Judas. The other eleven didn’t think helooked like a traitor.”

“You’re not helping. Judas committed suicide. I love that girl. I can’t stand the thought of her being hurt.” She paused. “No. I will not accept it. She is not the one.”

“Well, maybe Chief Foenapper has some new leads. He might already have another suspect or two.”

“But if he did, wouldn’t he have let me know about it?”

“Honestly, I doubt it. My impression is that he wants to solve this crime all by himself. I remember how tight-lipped he was out at the nursing home. He didn’t want to tell us anything.”

A woman rushed inside and went straight to Ginger.

“I’m sorry, Ginger.”

“For what?”

“I was picking up some donuts for Henry over at Cash’s place and I saw that he’s started selling muffins. And I thought I’d try one. I love your coffee cakes, Ginger. But I was in a hurry, and I thought I could save some time.”

“I understand. It’s okay, Phyllis. It doesn’t hurt my feelings.”

“But it’s just not as good as yours.”

Ginger tried not to gloat. “I see.”

“So, even though Henry’s waiting for his donuts, and he’s got to get to work, I just had to get me a Sweet Ginger Cake.”

“Well, you’d better hurry then. No hard feelings.”

“Thanks, Ginger.” She rushed to the end of the line.”

“Looks like you’ve got some competition,” said Elijah.

“Yes. But apparently it’s not very strongcompetition,” said Ginger. Then she had a thought. “Excuse me just a moment.”

She got up and walked over to Phyllis, who was standing in line. “Phyllis, I know you’re in a hurry, but could I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“You said you didn’t like the muffin you got at Cash’s. Did you eat it all, or do you still have some of it left?”

“I was going to eat it on my way home, but it just wasn’t very good, so I only ate a couple of bites. It’s in the car.”

“I’ll make you a deal. If you’ll let me have whatever’s left of it, I’ll buy your coffee cake this morning.”

“You will?”

“Yes. What kind do you want?”

“Sweet Ginger Cake.”

“I’ll bag it up while you run out to your car. What do you say?”

Phyllis grinned. “It’s a deal.”

When she came back with the partially eaten muffin, Ginger handed her the bag. “Thanks, Phyllis.”

“No, thank you, Ginger.”

Ginger watched her hurry out the door, and then went back to sit down at the table with Elijah.

“What was thatall about?” said Elijah.

“Cash Crawley has started selling these.” She showed it to him. “They’re muffins, but he calls them