A Cup of Murder by Cam Larson

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."
    At this point, I didn’t want to open Roasted
Love at all until Jacob was back in charge, but I knew I couldn’t
let the place close and cause lost business. Janie nodded and left. I
told Lily we would not reopen until