Death by Chocolate: a Candy Land cozy mystery

Chapter 6

Dressed like a diabetic coma-inducing Carmen Miranda, Lollipop pruned her hard candy trees, a crown of suckers glinting in the sun like tooth-rotting jewels. She turned towards Licorice and me as we approached.

"I wondered when you'd be by." She lowered her pruning shears and shaded her eyes with her hand. "Nice to see you, Jill."

"Sorry to call under such dark circumstances," I said before asking her about Knave.

"I saw him this morning at about 6:45. He picked up the order for Pat-a-Cake and headed off."

6:45. That was15 minutes before Muffin and Simon said Knave called the bakery. "How did he seem?"

Lollipop shrugged. "Same as always, slick and full of himself." She leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "You know the type."

Indeed, I did. The face of Jack flashed in my memory, and I kicked it aside. "How long was he here?"

"Long enough to hit on me and then split with three dozen lollipops."

"Three dozen? That's a lot to haul around."

Lollipop shrugged again. "Oh, he put them in the saddlebag of a motorcycle."

"Can you describe the bike?"

"Well, it was big, black, and shiny." She gave a seductive giggle. "But shouldn't you know what it looks like?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, I assume it was with Knave when Gloopy found the body. Where else would it be?"

Juicy news sure did travel fast. "How long had he had the bike?" I asked, dodging her inquiry.

She shrugged. "I'd never seen it before."

I reached into my pocket and held the evidence bag aloft with the peanut brittle shingle. "Ever seen anything like this before?"

Lollipop took the bag for a closer look. "It looks like peanut brittle." She handed the bag back to me.

"Any idea where it came from?"

"Only one person in Candy Land makes peanut brittle."

"Gramma Nut," the three of us said in unison.

"Any idea why Knave would have some?"

Lollipop's eyes grew wide, and her jaw dropped open. "Is that what killed him?"

Licorice opened his mouth to answer, but I held my hand up to quiet him.

"What do you mean?" I kept my expression neutral.

"I mean that he was super allergic to peanuts. The kind of allergy where you carry one of those adrenaline shots with you."

"An epi-pen?"

Lollipop nodded. "Yeah, one of those."

"Did anyone else know about Knave's allergy?"

"I'm not sure. I can ask around If you want."

"That won't be necessary." I handed Lollipop one of my dwindling cards. "Call if you remember anything else." Not only were we missing the motorcycle and three dozen lollipops. Knave had a deadly food allergy that might have served as a murder weapon.

She nodded, and Licorice and I headed to the Ice Cream Sea to question Frostine.