Fudge Cake, Felony and a Funeral (The Charlotte Denver Cozy Mystery Series Book 2) Read online

  FUDGE CAKE, FELONY AND

  A FUNERAL

  A Charlotte Denver Cozy Mystery – Book 2

  Sherri Bryan

  Table of Contents

  Cast of Characters

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Epilogue

  A SELECTION OF RECIPES FROM ‘FUDGE CAKE, FELONY and a FUNERAL’

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

  Note from Sherri

  About Sherri Bryan

  Acknowledgements

  Cast of Characters

  Charlotte Denver - Owner of Charlotte’s Plaice café on the marina in St. Eves. Our heroine.

  Nathan Costello - Chief Inspector of the St. Eves police department. Also Charlotte’s boyfriend.

  Tom Potts - 102-year-old centenarian of St. Eves. Recently deceased.

  Rose Potts - Tom’s wife. Deceased.

  Ava Whittington - Lifelong resident of St. Eves, member of the ‘Ladies Lunch Club’. Has known Charlotte since she was born.

  Harriett Lawley - as above.

  Betty Tubbs - as above.

  Garrett Walton - Lifelong resident of St. Eves and skipper of one of St. Eves fishing boat fleet. Also Charlotte’s godfather.

  Laura Walton - Garrett’s wife and Charlotte’s godmother.

  Leo Reeves - lifelong resident of St. Eves.

  Harry Jenkins - lifelong resident of St. Eves.

  Ellis Potts - Tom Potts’ son and Miranda Potts’ twin brother.

  Rachel Potts - Ellis’s wife.

  Brandon and Bella Potts – their 17-year-old twins.

  Victoria Henderson - Tom Potts’ youngest daughter.

  Greg Henderson - Victoria’s husband.

  Miranda Potts - unmarried twin of Ellis Potts and sister of Victoria Henderson.

  PC Fiona Farrell - Police Constable in St. Eves police force.

  PC Ben Dillon - Police Constable in St. Eves police force.

  Marjorie Wilkins - Long time resident of St. Eves. Was a close friend of Tom Potts.

  Reverend Daly - Reverend of All Saints Church.

  Ryan Benson - Boyfriend of Bella Potts.

  Victor Benson - Ryan’s Dad.

  Will Goss - Owner of The Bottle of Beer music bar on the marina.

  Adam and Yolanda - Owners of the Mini-Mart on the marina.

  Dave - The Vet.

  Alexander Young - The solicitor handling Tom’s estate.

  Mike Walton - Garrett and Laura’s nephew. Sometimes helps out at the café.

  Pippin - the West Highland Terrier.

  Chapter 1

  “We have entrusted our brother, Thomas, into the hands of God, and we now commit his body to the ground. Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust: in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ …” Reverend Daly’s bass Irish brogue, which boomed to the rafters of All Saints church during his zealous Sunday sermons, was as uncharacteristically subdued as the sombre toll of the church bell.

  On a dismal Thursday morning, the week before Easter, with the wind lashing the driving rain into the faces of the assembled mourners, St. Eves lamented the loss of Tom Potts – centenarian, friend and much loved resident of St. Eves.

  As Tom was laid to rest beside his adored wife, Rose, the tears streamed down Charlotte Denver’s cheeks. She clung onto the hands of her friend Jess standing on one side of her, and on the other, boyfriend Nathan Costello, who also happened to be the Chief Inspector of St. Eves Police Department.

  Approaching the coffin, Charlotte placed a single white rose on its lid. “God bless,” she whispered, before turning and rushing from the graveside. As if losing Tom wasn’t bad enough, the funeral had brought back painful memories of her parents’ deaths eleven years before in a car accident in Spain.

  “Charlotte … Charlotte! Wait!” Jess called, her heels sinking into the sodden earth as she chased after her friend.

  “Sorry,” Charlotte sniffed. “That was horrible. I just can’t believe that Tom’s gone.”

  Jess pulled her into a hug and stroked her shoulders. “Me neither. Things are going to be very different around here without him.” She stepped back and took Charlotte’s hands in hers. “Right now, though, we’ve got a party to organise. Come on, wipe your eyes and let’s get out of this rain.”

  Ever the pragmatist, Jess was far thicker-skinned than Charlotte, possessing the enviable ability to sail through life with a breezy, but realistic, outlook on most situations.

  Turning back to the crowd of slowly dispersing mourners, she signalled to Nathan that she was taking Charlotte in her car before driving the short distance to the marina. A ‘Celebration of Life’ was being held for Tom at Charlotte’s Plaice, and there was work to be done before everyone arrived.

  Despite the gloomy weather, the marina at St. Eves had a charm that shone through even on the dullest of days. Even with the grey clouds hanging low and the rain bouncing off the ground, the sights and sounds of the marina could still hold a captive audience in their grasp.

  The rough sea sent waves crashing against the hulls of the tethered boats as they lurched from side to side in their moorings, and the sound of a thousand wind chimes was carried far away on the strong, westerly winds.

  As Charlotte opened the doors to the café, Jess noticed her spirits noticeably lift. Friends for years, there weren’t many things they hadn’t shared since they’d started working together. For instance, it was no secret how much the little café meant to Charlotte, which to her - represented solace and security. Jess knew just how much it had helped her in moving on with her life after the death of her parents.

  There was no time to dwell on that today, though. Over 100 people were expected to arrive at the café at any moment, all wanting to be fed, watered and entertained.

  “Right. First thing ... let’s get out of these wet clothes.” Charlotte was glad that they’d thought to leave a change of clothes at the café that morning – they were both soaked to the skin.

  In the ladies room, she checked herself in the mirror. Her hazelnut-brown eyes were bloodshot, her eyelids puffy, and her pixie cut, the colour of burnt sugar, was plastered to her face. Oh, my gosh, I look a fright, she thought critically. Towel-drying her hair briskly, she ran her fingers through it and added a little styling spray. Then, leaning her head back, she squeezed in a couple of eye drops, blinking hard as they found their way behind the lids.

  Re-appraising her reflection, she felt happier with the face that looked back at her. Her eyes were clear now and her hair looked much less like she’d been dragged through a hedge. Slicking a wand of rose-gold gloss across her full lips and dusting the lightest covering of bronzer onto her cheeks, she nodded at the mirror. That’s better, she thought.

  Five minutes later, she and Jess were setting out the food along the bar.

  “It’s on days like this that I’m thankful we’ve got the enclosed awning over the terrace,” said Jess as she brought dish after dish out of the kitchen. “It’s like having an extra room, which is just as well because once everyone arrives, there’s no way they’re all going to fit in here.”

  “Hmmm,” said Charlotte, distracted, as she took the tinfoil off the dishes. The caf�
�’s specialty tapas, a whole poached salmon, barbecued ribs and drumsticks, a slow cooker of slowly bubbling beef stew, a vegetarian lasagne, two dishes of apple and blackberry crisp with jugs of custard and cream, and, in honour of Tom, two huge chocolate fudge cakes - his favourite sweet treat – were among the buffet selection. “I hope there’ll be enough for everyone.”

  “Enough?!” exclaimed Jess. “Good grief, woman! There’s enough here to feed the whole town for a week!”

  Charlotte relaxed a little. “I’m glad you think so. I’d hate to run out of food.”

  “Did someone say something about running out of food?” A voice from behind interrupted their conversation, and they turned to see Leo Reeves and Harry Jenkins coming through the door.

  “I might have guessed you’d be here first,” Jess teased them. “Worried you wouldn’t get a seat in front of the food, were you?”

  “More worried that you’d have eaten it all before we got here, more like,” retorted Leo, his craggy face breaking into a wide grin.

  Leo and Harry were life-long residents of St. Eves and loyal customers of Charlotte’s café. Over the years, they had developed a gentle banter with Jess, during which the good-natured insults flew back and forth.

  They settled themselves at a table. “I think you’ll find that a lot of people won’t arrive for half an hour or so,” said Harry, removing his trilby hat and shaking the rain from it. “They’ve gone home to get into some dry clothes before coming down, like we did.”

  “Good idea,” said Charlotte. “There’s nothing worse than sitting around in wet clothes for hours.”

  The sound of voices all talking at once signalled the arrival of the next guests. Ava Whittington, Harriett Lawley and Betty Tubbs, all in bright yellow, plastic, hooded ponchos, were competing for space on the doormat as they all tried to wipe their feet at the same time.

  Having known the women since she was born, Charlotte knew that they were generous and kind-hearted to a fault. She also knew that their propensity for gossip was legendary.

  “Hello, my dears,” said Ava as she hung her poncho on the coat rack and smoothed her hand over her perfect, steel-gray chignon. “What dreadful weather! Thank goodness Nathan was kind enough to bring us in his car. He brought Marjorie Wilkins, too. What a job he had getting her mobility scooter into the boot! Anyway, she goes at a snail’s pace on that thing, so we came on ahead. Do you gentlemen mind if we share your table?”

  Leo and Harry shuffled round and the ladies were making themselves comfortable when Marjorie arrived. A close friend of Tom’s, she had been inconsolable during the funeral. She was a frail-looking, softly spoken woman with a blue rinse and bright blue eyes, which, since Tom’s passing, had lost a little of their sparkle.

  “Hello, everyone,” said Marjorie as she stepped inside. “Is there room for one more?” Everyone moved round the table again and Marjorie settled herself into a space.

  Charlotte took her hand and gave it a squeeze. She knew exactly how difficult the funeral service must have been for the old woman, because she knew how difficult it had been for her.

  Anticipating that Marjorie was, once again, on the verge of tears, Harriett said loudly, “Did anyone else notice how rude Tom’s family was at the church?” She ran a comb through her newly coloured, chin-length strawberry blond waves and re-applied her lipstick without the aid of a mirror. “Was it just me, or were they terribly disrespectful?” She blotted her lips on a tissue before snapping her handbag shut. “I mean, his children chatted all the way through the service, and the grandchildren were glued to those phones of theirs. Inexcusable behaviour, I thought.”

  “Yes, I thought exactly the same thing,” said Jess, her brow creased and her jade green eyes flashing with anger as she recalled the bad manners of Tom’s family. “I’m glad it wasn’t just me.”

  “Really? I didn’t notice anything,” said Charlotte.

  “Well, you were rather upset, dear,” said Betty, leaning over to pat Charlotte on the arm. “You probably weren’t aware of what was going on.”

  “I know that Tom didn’t talk about his children very much,” said Charlotte. “Well, not to me, anyway. I don’t think they kept in touch very often once they’d left St. Eves. He did tell me once though, that he and Rose had had them quite late in life, because they wanted to spend as much time alone together as they could before they had children – so romantic.”

  “Well, if today’s performance is anything to go by, I’m not surprised he never talked about them. How on earth could a couple as lovely as Tom and Rose have produced such dreadful children?” said Jess, her curly, blonde ponytail swinging from side to side as she shook her head.

  “I remember them when they were growing up,” said Ava. “They were never particularly bad children. Of course, the twins, Ellis and Miranda, were very close, and they used to leave poor Victoria out of things a little, but they weren’t bad kids. Not until that Miranda became a teenager, anyway. And then … my goodness, all hell broke loose! She was a disruptive influence on the whole lot of them.”

  “I don’t remember them at all,” said Charlotte as she pulled the cork from a bottle of wine. “I know we went to live in Spain, but I don’t even remember them before that. Who are the young kids?”

  “Oh, they’ll be Ellis and Rachel’s children. They’re twins, too, so I heard,” said Harriett.

  “Good grief!” The doors opened again and in walked Nathan Costello, with Garrett and Laura Walton in tow. “That rain is coming down by the bucket load now, and the wind is really starting to howl.”

  On seeing the trio, Charlotte immediately felt happier. Her boyfriend and her godparents were three of the people she loved most in the world.

  She and Nathan had only been seeing each other for a little less than a year, but she knew they had something special together. Despite the fact that he was drop-dead-gorgeous, he was completely without ego or pretence. As far as Charlotte was concerned, Nathan was her perfect match.

  Her godparents, Garrett and Laura, had become like family since the death of her parents. After the accident, they’d flown to be with her in Spain and had accompanied her back to St. Eves. Since then, she’d leaned on them in times of sorrow and celebrated with them in times of joy. They were good people, and she was thankful to have them in her life.

  “Where is everybody?” asked Garrett, hungrily eyeing the food over Charlotte’s shoulder as he gave her a hug.

  “They’ll be arriving any minute now,” she said, moving over to Laura for another hug. “I just hope everyone will fit in.”

  The sound of cursing on the footpath that ran alongside the café prompted them to turn and look out of the window.

  “Bloody hell!” the voice repeated.

  A tall, thickset woman was battling with a large umbrella – a battle she quickly lost when it blew inside out and the nylon cover became detached from the spokes. She cursed again and pulled her jacket over her head. “Hurry up, will you? I’m getting soaked!” Four adults and two teenagers appeared, running to get out of the rain as quickly as they could.

  The glass doors opened again and the woman stepped inside. An imposing figure, she was broad in the shoulder and long in the leg and stood over six feet tall in her stiletto-heeled shoes. She had a mean face and a mouth that looked as though it had never, ever turned upwards at the corners. Deliberately speaking loud enough to be heard, she complained, “My God, nothing’s changed – this place is still a dive! It hasn’t stopped raining since we got here, you can’t get a decent burger anywhere, and that poky little cottage is smaller than a damn doll’s house.”

  Without bothering to wipe their feet, the rest of the group stepped into the café and surveyed their surroundings disapprovingly. With Miranda Potts leading the way, Tom’s family had arrived.

  Chapter 2

  Despite their hostility, Charlotte was determined to be hospitable.

  “Hello,” she said warmly. “I’m afraid it’s been a very long time
since I last saw you. My family went to live in Spain. Maybe you remember my parents - Molly and Scott Denver?” She waited for a sign of recognition, but it never came. “Anyway, listen to me, babbling on. I’m Charlotte. Welcome, all of you. Please come in and sit down. Here, let me take those wet jackets from you and hang them up.”

  She stepped towards them, her arms outstretched to help them off with their jackets, but on receiving a collective glare, she shrank back.

  “We’ll keep our things with us. We don’t trust strangers,” snapped Miranda. She and the rest of Tom’s family commandeered a large table close to the bar, nodding the briefest of acknowledgements to those they knew.

  “Oh, um, okay. No problem. Well, in that case, just sit wherever you’d like to and we’ll get you sorted out with some drinks shortly.” Charlotte forced a smile before walking away, muttering under her breath.

  “How about we put some music on?” said Jess, keen to lighten the atmosphere, which was so tense a chainsaw would have had trouble cutting through it.

  Behind the bar, a selection of Tom’s favourite music was already ready to go, and Jess slipped in a Frank Sinatra CD to start the ball rolling. As Ol’ Blue Eyes crooned his way through Mack the Knife, the guests began to arrive in droves.

  The café quickly filled up, inside and out, and Charlotte and Jess had their work cut out, keeping everyone supplied with drinks. Luckily, Charlotte had had the foresight to ask Garrett and Laura’s nephew, Mike, if he’d help out for a few hours. He sometimes gave them a hand when they were busy and he was certainly earning his wages today, collecting glasses, washing up and delivering drinks to tables on a loop.

  Before long, the party was in full swing. As morning slipped into afternoon, mourners traded their coffee for stronger stuff, and the music was turned up to accompany the impromptu sing-songs that were breaking out all around.

  As the drink flowed, Leo, Harry and Garrett took centre stage, jiving energetically with Ava, Harriett and Betty. When Glenn Miller’s In the Mood came to an end, they were treated to a spontaneous round of applause, for which they took a modest bow.