Plum Deadly by Ellie Grant

for her. She could buy herself into a nice retirement spot where she wouldn’t have to get up at five a.m. and walk down to this dingy shop and make piecrust. Surely you don’t want her to end her days this way.”
    Maggie frowned. She knew he was playing on her guilt, but it was still working.
    He may be a scumbag, but what if he’s right? What if it doesn’t work out for me to stay here? How can the pie shop support both of us when it’s barely supporting Aunt Clara? But if I leave again, Aunt Clara will be scraping by until everything falls in on her.
    “How much are we talking about?” she asked in a cold voice.
    He named a price. “A generous sum, you’ll agree.”
    Maggie bit her tongue to keep from reacting. Generous? It was amazing.
    The property was older and hadn’t been maintained. The amount of money he mentioned could probably pay for all five shops in the area and the land they were on. She admitted she didn’t know anything about property values in Durham, but she could find out.
    She glanced at Albert Mann, who stood close to her like a large black shadow, waiting for her answer.
    She recalled the medical office building deal he was after. No doubt this was a lowball offer, even though it seemed great. He wanted to make as much profit as he could.
    Not that it mattered.
    She was sure she wouldn’t be able to talk Aunt Clara into selling the pie shop unless she physically couldn’t get there every day. It was her life. Albert Mann would go on to something else. Her aunt wouldn’t. That made the property priceless.
    Still, it was a lot of money. The house could be repaired and maintained for many years, if it was properly invested.Aunt Clara wouldn’t have to worry about anything again. She could make pies for the library bake sale. Maggie’s banking mind was already creating a portfolio for her aunt that would double the money in no time.
    Despite all of that commonsense theory, she said no. “We’re not interested. My aunt loves this place. You can’t put a price on how much it means to her. It’s a good offer, but not to give up something that’s important to her.”
    He looked at her shrewdly. “You drive a hard bargain. I mean to have this land. Let me see what I can do to sweeten the pot.” He gave her his card. “I’ll let you know.”
    Maggie watched him walk away. He carefully avoided any of the trash and potholes in the old alley.
    That he might be willing to pay more for the pie shop didn’t surprise her. She’d thought he was probably holding back. How valuable could the property be? Even though the shop was run down, it didn’t mean the land wasn’t worth millions.
    She needed to have a look at the real estate market. No doubt the land closest to the university was worth more. Just the fact that Albert Mann wanted to build a medical office here made the price go up.
    Two women in crime scene coveralls walked past her into the pie shop. The police were still going over everything. She could see them inside taking samples of pie and everything else that had been for sale. Cans of soda were emptied and discarded. Bags of flour samples were taken and the rest thrown away.
    She hoped it didn’t take weeks to figure out what had killed Lou—and that whatever it was, wasn’t in the pie shop.Aunt Clara might not have any choice but to take Mann’s offer. Between being shut down and all of her food investment being destroyed, it might be bad enough to keep Pie in the Sky closed forever.
    Maggie thought about Lou again on her way back to the house. It was too late to save him. She had to think how she could save herself and Aunt Clara. She had to find some answers for both the bank theft and Lou’s death. She couldn’t wait until the police showed up at her door with an arrest warrant.
    She hadn’t brought much information with her. There was a flash drive of bank policy that had escaped from New York. It had been on her key chain. She was going to have to rely mostly on her