Blended Bribes by Jessica Beck

Author:Jessica Beck
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: bake cook food eat donut mystery cozy jessica beck, traditional clean
Publisher: Cozy Publishing
Published: 2019-08-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

“So, what do you think of the case so far?” I asked Grace as we drove back in the general direction of home. “Is it at all possible that the fire was an accident?”

“Not knowing Gabby,” Grace said. “I’ve got the feeling that whoever set that fire didn’t know Gabby all that well. Did you even know that she had a toaster oven in the shop?”

“No, as a matter of fact, I didn’t,” I said. “Is it possible that whoever did it brought it with them?”

“I doubt that, but I wonder what else was near it? Maybe Gabby was putting together a donation for Goodwill. Isn’t that how she discarded clothes she couldn’t sell?”

“That’s true enough. Okay, let’s say she brought it from home to take in with her other donations, and after she was struck down from behind, whoever did it panicked and looked around for a reason to set a fire to cover their tracks. It wouldn’t be hard to fray a cord and plug it in after the fire was set. If we look at it that way, it makes sense.”

“At least more sense than Gabby plugging it in herself,” I said. A sudden thought occurred to me, and I wondered why I hadn’t thought of it before. “Grace, we need to call Stephen right now.”

“And say what?” she asked as she pulled out her cell phone.

“If we’re right and someone set that fire to cover up their assault on Gabby, they have to make sure that she never regains consciousness,” I said. “That puts her life in danger every second she can’t tell anyone what really happened.”

“I’ll call him,” Grace said, “and I’ll put it on speaker, too.”

“Hey,” the chief answered on the third ring. “What’s up?”

“Do you have anybody guarding Gabby at the hospital?” Grace asked him.

“No, of course not. I can’t spare that kind of manpower,” the chief said. “Besides, the fire was set by accident. There’s no reason in the world to believe that Gabby’s in any danger.”

“Chief, it’s Suzanne,” I interjected. “What if you’re wrong?”

“I still can’t spare someone around the clock to keep an eye on her,” the chief said, “but I don’t think I’m wrong.”

“Can’t you at least have someone swing by and check on her every now and then?” Grace asked.

I knew that would be useless even as she asked the question. If someone really wanted to kill her, they’d just wait until the moment was right and strike when no one was watching.

“I suppose I could do that,” he said. “The last I heard, she was still in ICU. She’d be tough to get to there. They watch them around the clock.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “Then we should be all right, at least for now.”

“Ladies, far be it from me to criticize either one of your sleuthing skills, but I think you’re seeing things that aren’t there this time.”

“Thanks for the advice,” I said as I motioned to Grace with a cutting motion.

“Gotta go. Talk to you soon,” she said, hanging up before he had a chance to ask us what we’d been up to.

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