Apple Pie and Arsenic by C. A. Phipps

Author:C. A. Phipps
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: C.A. Phipps

Chapter Sixteen

Ethan returned with his deputy on Sunday afternoon. A bakery box had been found in the mayor’s trash. Since there were no other bakeries in town, Ethan apologetically took one of Maddie’s boxes to the sheriff’s department. It turned out to be a match, and there were traces of arsenic in it.

Once more, Maddie was at the sheriff’s station being questioned by Deputy Jacobs, and this time they’d insisted Gran come in too. She was with another deputy in the room next door.

They’d better be taking care of her, Maddie thought.

“How do you think your bakery’s box got to the mayor’s house?” Deputy Jacobs began.

“Denise brought some things on the first day I opened. That was the only time she came in. According to Gran, Denise had an admirer who was leaving boxes for her.”

Judging by his reaction, Jacobs knew about that. She looked to where Ethan was sitting in the corner. He gave her an apologetic look, but she had to accept this was evidence and she couldn’t protect Denise from unkind thoughts anyone might have about her having an admirer.

“Boxes of cupcakes?” the deputy pressed.

“Yes.”

“And you sold those cupcakes to this admirer?”

Maddie placed her hands on her thighs and her fingers began to tap. “I wouldn’t know if I sold him any cupcakes, because I have no idea who this man is. What I do know is that the cupcakes in that box weren’t mine.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You know this how?”

“Gran said they were awful, and she should know how my food tastes.”

“If they had poison in them, they might taste a little strange, wouldn’t they?”

She was outraged. “I wouldn’t poison my grandmother.”

“But you’d poison the mayor, who the cupcakes were intended for?”

“You’re twisting my words. I didn’t poison anyone. Call the health department. They’ve already been in this morning and taken samples of everything, and your men searched my place and Gran’s. Surely they’ll give you the results if you ask.” She folded her arms across her chest, remembering the sense of violation she’d felt.

Jacobs ignored her tirade. “Why would the mayor eat them if they tasted bad?”

“I have no idea. Maybe she didn’t want to hurt her admirers’ feelings or maybe she just tasted them, like Gran did.”

“Your Grandmother is still alive.”

“She only tried one cake. We don’t know how many Denise tried, or finished, do we?”

The deputy gave that a moment. “How would someone get a bunch of your boxes if they didn’t buy anything?”

Maddie was about to say she didn’t know, when she had a sudden flash-back. “Maybe when my window got smashed it was on purpose and someone snuck in and helped themselves to the boxes.”

Ethan gave her a surprised look but nodded in agreement. “Actually, Deputy, I was there after the window incident. The glass was all on the inside, meaning something broke it from the outside. The window is large enough for someone with a small build to get through.”

Maddie frowned. “You were the one who said it must have been the wind.

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