The Scented Cipher (A Nora Black Midlife Psychic Mystery Book 9)

Chapter 15

“Come on,” I urged Jeanna, feeling a twinge of impatience. “I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Aww, but I’m the best babysitter in town,” she quipped, her eyes sparkling with mischief. “Just ask Levi.”

“Har har,” her partner muttered, flexing the fingers on his bandaged hand with a grimace.

“Fine,” I conceded. “But if I have to sit around, I’m going to need caffeine.” The few sips of coffee I’d had early that morning were wearing thin. “We can at least go to the coffee shop, right?”

My reluctant agreement earned a nod, and soon enough, we were making our way to Moo-La-Lattes. Before we went inside, Jeanna cautioned me, “I know your friends are in there, but no talking about Jones. Not until we have him in custody, okay?”

“No talking about Edgar.” I crossed my heart but didn’t hope to die.

This wasn’t that kind of promise. The more I thought about it, the more Edgar made sense, but I didn’t see any connection to him and any of the prior cases I had worked for the Garden Cove PD. He was certainly the right age, sex, and race to be the culprit, but I needed the why of it to understand. I only hoped they caught him before he did anything destructive.

When we strolled into Moo-La-Lattes, the scents of coffee, chai, caramel, chocolate, and vanilla clung to the air like a dessert paradise. The aromas always brought on a deluge of memories, but luckily, I rarely saw the same memories twice.

“Nora!” Pippa waved at me from a table near the back, her smile broad and welcoming. Tippi sat next to her, JJ was in a booster seat, and JP was happily bouncing in his bouncy chair at her feet. She gestured to the seat across from her. “Everything wrapped up at the shop?”

“Yep,” I told her. “We can get back in there now, but let’s leave it until tomorrow.” I didn’t have the heart to work today, not with everything going on. “Hey, on the bright side, I’ve grown two extra heads,” I replied, using my thumbs to indicate Jeanna and Levi.

“We can push two tables together,” Jordy suggested, his voice warm and inviting. “So, you all can sit together.”

I flashed him a grateful look. “Thanks, Jordy. You’re the best.”

He laughed. “I won’t tell Easy you said so.” Today, his long hair was pulled back in a Viking-style braid, and he wore a tight black t-shirt with a line drawing of a French cow sporting a beret and the words “Moo-La-Lattes” in a speech bubble. He noticed me looking. “Do you like it?”

“It’s adorable,” I said with a grin. “Where’s mine?”

He grinned back, nodding toward Pippa’s table. “Talk to my marketing manager.”

“Are you moonlighting on me?” I teased her, raising an eyebrow.

“Not hardly,” she scoffed, a playful glint in her eyes. “That creation is all Tippi.”

Her younger sister grinned, her face awash with pleasure. “It was just for fun. I used to love art in high school, so I decided to take a graphic art class for my art requirement. I really enjoyed doing it.”

“And art is great therapy,” Pippa added, a note of pride in her voice. “Tippi’s going to be a great counselor.”

I saw a fleeting wistful look cross Tippi’s face, her smile faltering for just a moment.

Levi and Jeanna worked to push the tables together, then sat down in the seats closest to the door.

Tippi, who loved to flirt with everyone, pressed her fingertips against her chest, drawing attention to her v-neck t-shirt. She leaned in and asked, “Are we in danger?”

Levi and Jeanna both glanced over, their eyes lingering. I tried not to snicker, but it wasn’t easy. Tippi had a great body and excellent breasts. I couldn’t blame them for looking.

Jordy brought a tray of drinks to the table, his smile never wavering. “One frozen chai latte for Nora, a mocha Frappuccino for m’lady, a double-shot espresso caramel macchiato for the artist, and two Americanos for the cops: one black with four sugars, the other with cream, no sugar.” He handed out the beverages with a flourish. “Is everyone good?”

“Perfect for me,” I said, inhaling the spicy aroma with a contented sigh. “Heaven.”

“Thanks, Jordy,” Jeanna said, her eyes lighting up as she took the Americano with heavy cream and no sugar. Levi accepted the other one with a nod.

“So,” Tippi said eagerly. “Tell us what’s going on. Pippa said the bomb at the church wasn’t a real bomb. What the heck was it then? The smell was disgusting. It took me five washes to get the odor out of my hair.”

I glanced a Jeanna for permission, and she shrugged. “It’s not a secret. The mayor’s planning to tell the whole town in about...” She looked at the digital clock behind the coffee bar. “...ten minutes.”

“Oh, good.” Tippi rubbed her hands together. “We’re getting the scoop early.”

“It was a homemade stink bomb.” I fanned my hand in front of my nose. “Apparently, if you add sulfur powder with sugar and ignite it with gunpowder, it creates a disgustingly putrid gas.”

“Sulfur dioxide,” Jeanna said. “That’s the gas it makes, and it stinks to high heaven.”

“So we weren’t in any real danger,” Pippa mused.

“That’s not the case,” Levi jumped in. “If you inhale a large concentration of sulfur dioxide, it’s toxic, plus, when the bomb went off, shrapnel from the container was embedded in the walls. That could have seriously injured someone.”

Tippi drew her finger in a circle on the table in front of Levi. “You’re a seriously serious person, aren’t you, Officer Walters?”

I almost choked on my frozen chai when I laughed while trying to take a sip. The bomb might not have killed anyone, but Tippi’s flirting might.

Levi shifted in his chair, his expression waffling between flattered and scared. I didn’t blame him. Tippi was beautiful, like her sister, but she was also headstrong and fierce as well. I imagined any guy who ended up with her would have to accept that she was the boss of them.

“Anyhow,” I said, rescuing Levi. “To summarize, it was a stink bomb, but not the harmless kind you find in a joke shop.”

“Who in the world would have those chemicals on hand? I mean, if someone put in a big order, wouldn’t they be easy to trace?” Pippa asked.

“Pharmacy companies, demolition experts, farms, manufacturers, labs, and gold miners,” Levi rattled off.

“Gold miners?” Pippa asked. “What would they use it for?”

“I’m not an expert,” Levi said. “Just good at Googling. From what I skimmed, it can clean and purify the gold.”

“They used to use mercury,” I added. “To clean gold, I mean.”

“That sounds dangerous,” Tippi commented.

“No more dangerous than the acids,” he replied. There was a glint in his eye that I interpreted as interest. Maybe Officer Walters didn’t need nor want to be saved.

Good for him, and good for Tippi. Levi, from what I knew, was a decent enough man, and after three years of sobriety, Tippi was more than ready for dating.

“Burt Adler,” Pippa exclaimed. “He was a pharmacist. What if it’s someone who is getting revenge for him?”

“Not pharmacist,” Levi corrected. “The pharmaceutical companies. The ones who make the drugs. And, while Burt was pushing drugs through his business, he wasn’t making them.”

“Since there isn’t a farm anywhere near Garden Cove, we can rule that out,” Jordy said as he came back with a pot of coffee and topped off Jeanna and Levi’s cups.

I wanted to shout to the room, “They have a suspect! We can quit guessing!” but I’d promised Jeanna I’d keep my trap shut.

Jeanna put her phone on the table. “The Gazette is going live with the mayor’s speech now. Do we want to watch?”

Did I want to hear or see Carol Billingsly? No. But I did want to hear what the mayor had to say. “Sure,” I groused. “Let’s watch, but I’d appreciate the volume lowered until the mayor comes on.”

“You got it,” Jeanna said. “Nobody wants to hear that windbag, anyways.”

“Carol or the mayor?” I asked.

“You got me there.” Jeanna barked a laugh. “It’s a coin flip.”

JP began to fuss. “I feel the same way, Jordy, Jr,” I told my godson. I reached down and unlatched him from the bouncy chair, picked him up and began to bounce the sweet boy on my knee. JJ squealed with delight as her baby brother vibrated right in front of her eyes. She was still at that age where object permanence wasn’t a thing, so when he was on the floor, she’d probably thought he’d disappeared. My picking him up was like magic to her.

“He’s probably getting hungry,” Pippa said.

“I’ll make him a bottle,” Jordy said, grabbing the diaper bag and taking it behind the bar.

Jeanna turned the volume up on her phone with the camera zoomed in on Allison Green.

Mayor Green stood resolutely at the grandstand outside the courthouse, her auburn hair catching the afternoon sunlight.

“Good evening, citizens of Garden Cove,” Mayor Green began, her voice projecting through the speakers of Jeanna’s phone. “I understand there has been concern over the incidents this Memorial Weekend. Let me assure you that the reported shooting at the street fair was a false alarm. A harmless prank perpetrated by a disruptive sort. There was no danger to the public at any time.”

The crowd around the grandstand murmured doubtful exchanges. I glanced at my friends, knowing we shared the same reservations. Edgar had been injured by shrapnel from the kettle—not exactly harmless, even if he was the one responsible.

“The bomb scare at the church was also baseless,” Mayor Green continued, her tone firm. “It was a stink bomb, intended to cause panic without posing any real danger. Our police force responded promptly, prioritizing public safety.”

“Hah!” I scowled. JP reached up, tapped me on the cheek, blew a bubble, then flashed me a big toothless grin. Using baby talk and addressing the three-month-old, I said, “Mayor Green wouldn’t even think about shutting down her precious fundraiser.” She seemed more concerned about votes than public safety.

Mayor Green added, “Our officers are actively investigating both incidents and we expect to make an arrest soon.”

My fingers tapped nervously on the table. I had spent the weekend piecing together clues and trying to make sense of it all. The threat to myself and my friends seemed far from ending.

“And I want to reassure everyone,” Mayor Green intoned, “that Garden Cove remains a safe and welcoming community. Our tourism industry is crucial to our economy, and we won’t allow these incidents to deter us.” She raised her fist in the air. “You can trust in our police and local government to do their best for you.” She gave the group a broad smile. “Go Green with Green!”

As the speech concluded, there was a smattering of applause from the crowd in front of the courthouse, but it was clear the citizens of Garden Cove weren’t convinced.

My friends and I exchanged solemn looks. “She’s full of hot air,” I said with a lively tone. I finished by tapping my godson on the nose. “Isn’t that right, JP? Yes, it is. She’s full of nonsense.” He grinned again, his face turning red as his smile widened. “Uh oh. That’s not sulfur gas,” I joked before handing him quickly to his mom. “Aunt Nora is not on diaper duty.”

She chuckled and loudly said, “Jordy, come get your boy. He’s left you a surprise.”

I glanced at Jeanna’s phone. She turned the volume down as Carol finished her report on the event. I spotted Ezra swiftly moving in the background. Reese and Broyles appeared on screen from the other side.

“Hey, there’s Easy,” Tippi exclaimed. “What’s he?—”

Allison Green screamed and stumbled away from her podium as a man holding his arm ran up the steps to the grandstand, his face as red as JP’s had been, sheer panic in his eyes as the camera zoomed in on him. The mayor’s people surrounded her for protection while Ezra tackled the man, grabbing his legs and bringing him down, while Reese climbed over him and slapped the cuffs on. Several people in the crowd cheered louder for the arrest than they had for the mayor’s speech.

“Oh my God,” Pippa said. “Is that our banker?”

“Yep,” I confirmed. “That’s Edgar.”

Still, something didn’t sit right with me. I’d been with Edgar in that booth after his injury. He’d been genuinely scared, and the entire time we were together, I didn’t see him with popcorn. The evidence my point in his direction, but I didn’t buy it. Something was foul in Garden Cove, and it wasn’t just JP’s diaper.