A Cup of Murder (Roasted Love Cozy 1)

Janie handed me three orders for espresso and I began my daily routine. Ignoring conversations proved next to impossible to do but I resolved to not participate in any way. I overheard two people avowing innocence of Jacob Weaver. Others nodded their heads in agreement, but I wondered how long that loyalty would hold.

"I heard they found some evidence against Jacob over at Sunrise," said a woman near the counter.

"What was it?" asked her companion.

"I don’t know. I just know they found something."

It was going to be a long day. Janie handed me another order for cappuccino and French toast. By this time Lily was in and so our work was evenly divided. I explained briefly to Lily what was going on. The sympathy in her eyes was genuine as she went right to work. There were no words necessary from Lily, Janie or me to one another.

"There’s someone at that back table who wants to talk to you, Laila," said Janie.

"Tell whoever it is I’ll see them as soon as I’m caught up. Who is it?"

"I think it is that Barista from Sunrise but I’m not sure," said Janie.

I glanced back and it was Jen Perry. She gazed out the window and her eyes landed on Sunrise. Now I had three important tasks to complete: work as usual, talk with Jen Perry and get to the jail as soon as possible. I wiped my hands on a towel and told Lily and Janie I would take only a few minutes to talk with Jen and be right back.

"I know you are busy, Laila," said the Sunrise Barista, "but I had to talk with you when I heard Jacob was arrested a little while ago."

It was uncanny how she showed up on the Piazza since Sunrise had not reopened yet. I told her we were swamped as she could tell while I quickly glanced at my watch.

"Leticia Simms was a jealous woman," said Jen.

"Is that Michael's wife's name?" I asked, making a mental note to write that on my board at home. "Tell me what you are getting to," I said.

"Yes. Leticia met Michael several times right at closing time. When she found out we were having an affair, she wanted to make sure we didn’t leave Sunrise together, I guess. At least that is what Michael told me. She had never come to the Sunrise until she found out about us that I know of."

"Did you mention this to the police?" I asked.

"No, I didn’t. They had me shaken up enough when one of them told me I was a suspect. I didn’t have any way to get poison and I sure didn’t want to be brought up on murder charges. I thought you should know this since Jacob was arrested today."

There was something about Jen Perry that brought an irritation to my hectic day. I told her that any other information like that should be passed on to the police and not to me. When she stood up, I amended what I said.

"I mean, I want to hear anything you think of, but make sure the police hear it too."

She nodded and her lithe figure seemed to float out the door but not before she glanced at the customers and flipped her hair ever so seductively. It is the only word I could think of to describe her action. Old habits come easily.

The crowd thinned since everyone had to get to work, run errands or whatever they had to take care of in their normal lives. The three of us sat down to take a short break. None of us spoke of Jacob and his arrest, each of us lost in our own thoughts. There were still three customers remaining. A few minutes later, two men in suits walked into Roasted Love and spotted us at the table. Janie approached them to get their orders.

"We want to see whoever is in charge here," said one, flashing his badge.

I went to meet them and saw they were detectives. Immediately, I knew their purpose.

"We have a search warrant and want to see Jacob Weaver’s work area first."

"We will be looking at the whole shop so you may want to close up for a few hours," said the other one.

I told them as soon as I could get the last three customers out, I would do that. I did not like the idea of closing up but in the long run it was best no patrons watched the pilfering of Roasted Love.

The younger detective showed the official paper to me and I led them back to Jacob’s office after relaying the message to Lily and Janie in regard to closing up. I had no idea if Jacob had disposed of his threatening notes to Michael Simms or not when he arrived this morning. More than anything, I hoped if they found any, they would also find the same from Michael. At least, it wouldn’t show the whole vendetta was one-sided.

They spent a long time in Jacob’s office. The younger one came out and asked me if Jacob spent most of the time in the office. I told them he was very visible to his customers and worked throughout Roasted Love. I wanted to boast about how devoted he was to his business, but his manner was crisp and left no room for lauding my boss’s attributes. If it came to it, I would get my chance on the witness stand. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that. The detective headed for the front of the coffee house. I noticed two potential customers try the door, peer in and then walk away.

I left to check on Thor and mentally reminded myself about getting a leash for him. He was lying under the small Weeping Willow at the edge of the alley. I refilled his water bowl and ruffled his head before returning to the shop.

The time the detectives spent in Roasted Love seemed endless. They packed up two computers and a couple of folders that bulged and thanked me. Janie reached for the sign ready to turn it to open when I stopped her. By now it was close to two and time for her to clock out.

"Don’t turn it over yet," I said. "Go ahead and clock out. I’ll call you later this evening to let you know if we will open tomorrow or wait another day or so."