A Killer Cake by Jessica Beck

Author:Jessica Beck [Beck, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Mystery, series, jessica beck, diner, cozy
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

“I’m guessing that didn’t go as well as you’d hoped it would,” my grandfather said before I could get a word out on my own. “Manchester thinks he’s above all of this, doesn’t he? He treated us like we were some kind of joke.”

“That man can talk five minutes and not say a thing,” the sheriff said as he leaned forward over the truck-bed, planting his elbows on the frame of it. I’d seen it done a thousand times. A great many men from the South never spoke face to face. They all seemed more comfortable leaning against some part of a pickup truck, their eyes rarely making contact. “Every time I’ve tried to pin him down about an alibi, he manages to say a whole lot of words that don’t add up to much.”

“Well, if it helps,” I said, “we saw him in Roy’s office not long after he was poisoned. He was extremely upset with the man. I guess he could have been acting, but if he was, if fooled me. He admitted that he walked around the fair a little before he got to Roy’s office, but he claimed that he didn’t see Roy, or the cake, for that matter.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that,” Sheriff Croft said. “That was more than I managed to get out of him. He mostly just talked me around in circles.”

“I’m guessing that’s how he treats his business partners, too,” Moose said. “Can you imagine him in a room with Roy Thompson? That’s about as odd a couple as you’ll ever want to see.”

“I’ve got information that they did three deals together, but it’s kind of odd,” the sheriff said.

“What’s so odd about it?” I asked.

“The first two deals they made together generated a good amount of income for Manchester, doubling his investment both times. The third deal, the latest one that just blew up on him, cost him all that he’d earned plus every dime he’d invested before, and another ten grand of fresh money thrown into the mix.”

“Do you think Roy Thompson might have set him up?” Moose asked.

The sheriff shrugged. “I don’t have any proof one way or the other, but if I had to guess, I’m willing to bet that old James in there got his clock cleaned by a professional. It appeared that he was under the impression that he was the shark in the deal, but I’ve got a hunch that he was wrong.”

“I thought James Manchester was rich,” I said. “He could afford to lose that kind of capital, couldn’t he?”

“I don’t think affording it had anything to do with it,” the sheriff said. “You’ve met James Manchester, so you must have an idea of what he’s like, and from what you told me, you saw him pretty steamed yesterday in Roy Thompson’s office. Did he seem like a man who would take losing anything with a whistle and a smile?”

“Not a chance,” Moose said. “Is that why you wanted us to hang around, to talk about James Manchester?”

“No,” the sheriff said with the hint of a smile.

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