The Honey Trap (A Honeybee Cozy Mystery Book 2) Page 3

  She walked back through to the back room, hitting one hip against the side of a table hard enough to jolt it an inch across the floor. Alice blushed as the few patrons in the cafe stared at her with open interest. She backed out, the heat in her cheeks quite the opposite of the cold chill invading her heart.

  What on earth have I done wrong?

  Halfway to home, Alice thought about dropping by Tashmore Primary and collecting the tray, anyway. She was closer to the school than Sally, and all the chores sitting at home could wait.

  Then she thought of the possibility of crossing paths with Sally, so they both made the journey, but her friend might arrive to be told the job was already done. Alice would’ve dismissed the thought as silly on another day, but right now, it seemed possible the action might initiate a complete breakdown in their relationship.

  Miserable and with her stomach twisting into knots, Alice stuck to the road home and arrived there a few minutes later. When she lay down on the porch next to Chester to give him a hug, she couldn’t tell if she was offering the dog comfort, or selfishly taking it for herself.

  “People get in bad moods from time to time, and you just have to let it run its course.” Doug raised his snips up into the tree and checked Alice was clear before clipping off the branch. “You’re just noticing it more with Sally because she’s usually so cheerful and you’re so close.”

  Doug always knew exactly the right thing to say, both to cheer Alice up and to explain the world around her. Of course, people could get into bad moods, it happened all the time. If Sally felt off color for a couple of days, she was perfectly entitled. Goodness knows Alice had spent enough days sulking about the place as gruff as a Gila monster. Sally had weathered those moods and now it was Alice’s turn.

  “I still feel like I should contact her and apologize,” Alice said, wringing her hands together.

  “Just let it alone,” Doug responded. “How about you try to start out of each other’s way for the rest of the week? It’d have to be a shocking mood for it to outlast the weekend.”

  From Alice’s view so far, Sally’s emotional state definitely qualified as shocking. Staying out of her friend’s way did feel like the natural thing to do—perhaps that was why Alice questioned it again.

  “Are you sure? Usually, when I want to stay away from people, that’s when I need to get out and amongst them the most.”

  “But what applies for you, doesn’t necessarily follow for everyone else.” Doug checked behind him, then carefully made his way down the ladder. “If you spin too far inside yourself, we might never get you out. It’s not the same as Sally snapping at people for a few days.”

  “I’m so lucky you applied for the job as the gardener.” Alice stood back and hugged herself briefly as Doug folded up the ladder, ready to cart away. “If I didn’t have you to explain Sally—” she broke off and he laughed.

  “And Sally to explain Doug,” he finished for her, prompting a smile.

  “I don’t know how people cope with just one friend when they need another to explain everything the first is doing,” Alice agreed.

  “Speaking of friends—” Doug jerked his head toward the porch “—how’s our old mate Chester doing.”

  “He’s lazing away his days, just fine.” Alice fell into step beside Doug as he walked back to his truck. “I guess I’ll find out if it’s good or bad news, tomorrow.”

  “I’ll have my fingers crossed for the surgery.” Doug packed in his ladder, his clippers, and unwound the heavy belt full of tools from around his waist to toss into the back of the truck. “I’m up at the department of conservation cabins tomorrow, doing some tidying, so I won’t be back until late. Feel free to text me with any news though. You know I’ll be thinking of you both.”

  Alice nodded. She remembered Doug telling her about the job and had just about given up hope it would be canceled or postponed. Just about. “I’ll be out and about, trying to keep myself busy.” Or, sitting in the vet’s office the whole time, winding myself up.

  “Best of luck, Chester,” Doug called out and the old dog thumped his stubby tail on the porch. It was the most Alice had seen him move voluntarily all week. “I hope you enjoy the drugs when they put you under anesthesia.”

  “Just what I always wanted, a dog looking forward to drugs.”

  Doug laughed and gave her a wave goodbye, reversing quickly up the drive and honking as he turned and headed for home.

  Alice clapped her hands together and turned to Chester. “What do you feel like for your meal tonight? You can have anything, I promise.”

  Luckily, Chester indicated he wanted soft dog roll and since that was exactly what Alice had on hand, that was what he got.

  While the clock on the wall of the vet seemed to crawl backward, Alice sat in one of the waiting room chairs and sniffed her fingers. They smelled of Chester. She’d deliberately dug her fingers deep into the dog’s coat before the vet whisked him away, so she could keep the scent of him with her.

  The phone beeped in her pocket, and Alice pulled it out, expecting to see a message of support from Doug. Instead, there was a quick note from Sally.

  “Can you come down to Tashmore Primary School? I’m in a spot of bother.”

  Alice stared at it, her brow furrowing into deep wrinkles as she tried to work out what was going on. She felt reluctant to head on down there, considering Sally’s attitude at the school the other day. On the other hand, it wasn’t often her friend asked her for anything. To refuse to attend was unthinkable.

  “I’m just popping out for a few minutes,” Alice told the receptionist. “Do you have my number if you need to get in contact?”

  The woman gave a kind smile, not bothering to remind Alice she’d already checked it with her twice. She recited the mobile number back to her, and added, “It’ll probably be at least another hour before there’s any news.”

  She’d probably be back in the waiting room by then!

  Alice thanked her and headed out the door, tapping the back of her hand in a rapid pattern, the stimming barely working on her emotional state at all. When she got behind the wheel, she took a few deep breaths, fighting for calm. The last thing anybody needed was Alice splattered over the highway.

  It was a ten-minute drive from the vet’s office to the primary school, but it took at least that long again for Alice to find a parking spot nearby. The road outside was full of vehicles, and it gave her pause when she recognized the black-and-white pattern of a police car amongst them.

  What did Sally do?

  With stern warnings to herself not to be silly, Alice jogged back to the school and made her way toward the principal’s office. She replied to Sally’s text—“I’m here at the school. Where are you?”—then stood aside, behind a crowd of people clustered in a loose group outside the building.

  “What’s happened?” Alice asked the redheaded woman she recognized from her talk the day before. “My friend told me to come down here, but I can’t see her.”

  The woman turned and nodded with recognition. “You’re the bee lady, right?” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Trish Clarkson. There’s been a horrible accident involving the principal.”

  Alice shook the offered hand quickly, then wiped off the sensation of touch surreptitiously on her jeans. “Alex Dunbar? Is he hurt?”

  “He’s dead,” Trish said, then gulped a few quick breaths. For the first time, Alice noticed the woman’s eyes were red-lidded and her cheeks were flushed. “A visitor found him this morning. He’s been murdered!”

  Chapter Five

  “Murdered?” Alice stared at Trish in horror, her mouth dropping open with shock. She looked back down at her phone where the text she’d sent was still awaiting a reply.

  Her thoughts wouldn’t form themselves into a reasonable order. Sally was in trouble at the school, and the principal had been murdered, but surely they didn’t join together in any way. She took a step back, fighting for control, as the wild ideas congregated.

/>   “Miss Townsend?”

  Alice turned back toward the building entrance at the sound of her name and saw a familiar figure standing there. Detective Sergeant Phillip Hogarth. She put a hand to her throat as her pulse jumped in her neck.

  He waved the crowd of people back, and Alice walked up the steps toward him, feeling the weight of dread push down on her shoulders as she did so. When she reached the top stair, two officers stood on either side of the door through to the principal’s office. Alice’s eyes took a snapshot of Alex Dunbar lying prostrate on the floor, then the Sergeant indicated for her to move farther down the hall.

  “We’re holding your friend down here,” he said, slipping ahead of Alice to hold the next door open for her. “I imagine she’ll be pleased to see you.”

  “Sally?” Alice hesitated at the threshold, unsure of whether she should go any further. “Are you okay?”

  Her friend looked up, eyes swollen and red from crying and her nose flushed where she’d blown it repeatedly. Sally’s hair was falling out of its bun, stray locks poking in a dozen different directions. “Thank goodness, you’re here,” she called out in a croaky voice. “Something terrible has happened.”

  “Did you know the principal of this school, Alex Dunbar, very well?” the sergeant asked Alice.

  She turned to him with a puzzled expression, everything jostling in her head as she played catch-up. “I met him just last weekend, but we got on okay. He invited me to the school yesterday to give a talk.”

  “I’m afraid to say he’s been found dead, this morning.”

  “Yes, I know.”

  When the sergeant raised his eyebrows, Alice hastened to add, “A woman waiting outside told me. Trish Clarkson.”

  “I found his body,” Sally said in her cracked voice, before sobbing into a tissue. “I still can’t believe this is all happening.” She held out a hand that trembled violently in the air. “I’m shaking.”

  “I’m not surprised,” Alice said, crossing over to her and crouching down to be level. “It must have been a horrendous shock. What on earth were you doing here this morning?”

  “I forgot the tray last night. And after I was so mean to you about it, I wouldn’t have felt right calling you to ask you to get it. I thought I could get here and collect it and still make it to the cafe for the opening.” Sally’s eyes widened, and she clutched the tissue harder. “Oh, no! I completely forgot about the cafe.”

  “Harriet will open it up when she arrives,” Alice reassured her. “It’s still a few minutes until she’s due.”

  Sally stared at her watch in disbelief, then double-checked with the clock on the wall. She shook her head slowly. “I thought it was much later.”

  “That’s just the shock, ma’am,” the sergeant said. “Once you feel a bit better, we’d like to ask you a few questions.”

  “Of course.” Sally tried to stand up, but her shaking legs didn’t let her get very far. “Sorry, I don’t know what’s going on.”

  “Just sit there,” Alice said in her sternest voice. She turned to the sergeant. “Can somebody get my friend a cup of hot, sweet tea? I’m sure it’ll help her recover faster.”

  “I don’t know we can swing that.” Sergeant Hogarth turned to another officer and nodded. “But we can fetch a soft drink from the machine.”

  “Lemonade, thanks,” Sally said in a small voice. She held a shaking hand up to her forehead as another wave of tears caught her in its wake. “I can’t wait for this day to end.”

  A woman’s voice called out from down the corridor. “What’s going on? What’s happened?” The sharp clip of high heels charged down the hallway and a distraught face peered into the room. “Where’s my husband?”

  It was the woman Alice had seen when she dropped the honey jars off a few days earlier. She averted her eyes as the Sergeant began to explain the matter, not wanting to see the distress turn into outright grief.

  As she leaned away, Alice caught another sour tang from Sally’s breath, stronger than the one from the day before. Much as she wanted to believe it wasn’t so, the aromatic scent of wine was the closest matching odor. For some reason, her teetotal friend had taken to drink.

  Once she admitted the thought, other signs came in quick succession. The shakes may in part be down to shock, but the reddened eyes surely weren’t all down to crying, nor were the swollen capillaries radiating out in snaky trails across Sally’s cheeks.

  “What’s going on?” Alice whispered, leaning in closer to her friend. “Why are you drinking?”

  Sally jerked back and clutched her hands up to her chest. “What are you talking about? I’m in shock because there’s a dead body lying in the next room.”

  Alice tried to whisper something more, but Sally shook her head, denying the words before she could even say them. “I can’t believe you’re acting this way when I need your help. If you’re going to be like this, you might as well go home.”

  The sergeant caught the tail end of that speech and held up a hand. “Actually, please don’t go yet, Miss Townsend. I wouldn’t mind checking a few details with you about the jars of honey we found in Mr. Dunbar’s office.”

  Alice hadn’t been going to follow Sally’s instruction, presuming it was just her overwrought emotions talking, but now she stood up. The sergeant handed the care of Mrs. Dunbar over to another officer, then beckoned Alice out into the hallway and along a few yards before gesturing for her to stop.

  “I don’t know how much you saw coming past,” the sergeant said in a whisper. “But the pathologist hasn’t yet removed Mr. Dunbar’s body from his office. If the sight of that will upset you, better you stay out here.”

  “I’ve seen a dead body before,” Alice countered, then frowned as Mrs. Dunbar let out a wail, perhaps overhearing the topic of conversation. “But why do you want me to go into the office, anyway?”

  “We found a jar of honey that forms part of the crime scene,” Sergeant Hogarth explained. “From what the teachers tell us, you brought along a tray of honey for the school to raffle, and I’m just looking for confirmation of whether the jar formed part of that lot, or if it could have been brought elsewhere.”

  Alice gave a quick peek over his shoulder, seeing the bottom of Alex Dunbar’s shoes. Although what she said was true about having seen a dead person before, and in the sergeant’s company no less, she was in no hurry to see another. Especially not one she’d formed an attachment to in life.

  “I wouldn’t know.” Alice pulled at her lip as she thought back through the bottling process she’d followed a few days previously. “The system I followed for the school pots is the same one I always use. I don’t know I’d be able to tell. It seems more than likely though, doesn’t it?”

  “Okay.” The sergeant turned as an officer outside called his name, and his attention moved away with it. “Thanks for your help, then. We’ll let you know if there’s anything more we need.”

  Alice watched him walk outside and stood still for a few minutes, at a loss as to what to do next. Should she stay in case Sally needed her, even though her friend had made it perfectly clear she wanted her to go?

  Chester needed her. Chester wouldn’t say mean things and tell her she might as well go home.

  She took a few steps toward the exit, mentally shifting gears so her dog once again occupied all her thoughts. A second later, a woman ran past the door, grabbing the sergeant by the arm until he swung around.

  “What’s going on, here? I sent my son to school this morning, just like usual, and then my neighbor tells me it’s been canceled for the day.”

  “Your son?” Sergeant Hogarth turned a frown toward a PC standing nearby. “I thought all the children had been met at the gate and escorted home if their parents hadn’t already received the message?”

  The PC nodded. “That’s right. There were only three turned up without hearing the radio announcement, and we made sure they got home and had someone there to care for them for the day. One we had to drop off at a d
aycare, but that was at the request of the mother.”

  “Then, where is he?” the woman shrieked, her alarm transmitting out around the circle of people like a virus, infecting everyone. “Where’s Michael?”

  Chapter Six

  Alice joined the group of teachers waiting near the gates. For some reason, the woman’s shock announcement held her fast, and she felt like she must stay in place until they found the boy.

  “He’s probably bunking off school for the day,” a male teacher said, picking at a loose thread on his cuff. “It’s going to be a nasty shock if he turns up at home, pretending everything was okay.”

  “Surely, the kids here are too young to bunk off school,” Alice said.

  At that, the group of teachers laughed. “There’s a load of children who it would never occur to,” the male teacher explained. “And then there’re kids you can’t get to turn up unless they’re escorted to the classroom and held there by a parent until the teacher arrives.”

  “Really?” Alice’s mind boggled at the idea. She hadn’t liked going to school, not one single day of it, but the thought of wagging hadn’t even raised its head as a possibility until she was well into high school. Even then, it took other teenagers in her class to do it. The idea had to be introduced.

  “At this age, some children don’t even realize the difference between right and wrong. It never occurs to them their parents will be out of their minds with worry if they go off by themselves. They just see something and want to do it, so they do.”

  “It’s not even them being naughty, really,” another woman chimed in. “If they’ve been helping out on the farm at home all weekend, all they want is a break for themselves.”

  “Is it a rural thing, then?” Alice asked. Although she now lived out in the country, she’d been raised in a suburb in town.

  “Perhaps. I’ve only ever taught here, straight out of teacher’s college,” the same woman replied. “One of our first lessons every school year is why leaving school without telling anybody is wrong.”