Cake and I Scream by Gayle Leeson

Author:Gayle Leeson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: women sleuths, cozy culinary, amateur sleuth, cozy mysteries, cozy mystery, amateur detective, quirky characters, cat, dog, pet, small town, humorous, light-hearted, crime-solving, culinary mystery, food-themed mystery, cafe, murder investigation, mystery series, cozy mystery series, cooking mystery, culinary cozy suspense, mystery, thriller, investigation, whodunit, puzzling, female protagonist
Publisher: Gayle Leeson
Published: 2023-11-28T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

J

ackie tried to convince Aunt Bess to allow her to drive her home. “I need to get back to class, Granny, and I can’t see any peace if I’m worrying about you.”

“What do you think is going to happen to me here in your cousin’s café?” Aunt Bess asked. “Are you afraid I’m gonna starve to death? Captain Spencer has come all this way to take me up on my offer to help him. I can’t just turn my back on the man.”

“Um...actually, I would like to speak with you if it wouldn’t be too much trouble,” Captain Spencer said.

“I thought you’d already taken Granny’s statement at the ski lodge on Sunday.” Jackie glared at the captain.

“And that’s when I told him to let me know if he needed my help.” Aunt Bess spread her hands. “Obviously, he does.”

Katherine and Bill were watching this exchange with bemused smiles on their faces.

“Would anyone like a menu?” I asked.

Frankly, I didn’t know why Jackie was making such a big deal of Aunt Bess being here, either. It wasn’t like I’d let anything bad happen to her. Furthermore, this was a place of business—my place of business—not a three-ring circus.

“I’d love a menu,” Katherine said.

“I imagine you’re wondering what we’re doing here.” Bill took the menus I offered him and handed one to his wife. “After Barbara’s death, all our guests either canceled their reservations or rescheduled.”

“We can only hope they’ll reschedule.” Katherine’s smile had been replaced by a worried frown. “We desperately needed something to cheer us up, and we thought a day trip to Winter Garden might do the trick.”

“Say, Scott, you couldn’t draw us a map to where that Civil War gold is buried, could you?” Bill laughed as if he’d told the funniest joke anyone had ever heard.

No one else even chuckled.

“I’m sorry, sir,” Scott said. “I sure wish I could.”

“You know, my granddaughter, Jackie, made an excellent observation about Barbara,” Aunt Bess said. “It’s possible she ate that head of lettuce Friday night because she was afraid of being poisoned. Now, I personally believe it was awfully rude of her to book a reservation from you during your grand opening weekend if she suspected there was a killer after her, but there you go.”

“I don’t think Barbara feared for her life,” Katherine said. “If so, she never mentioned it. Besides, we ordered out that evening, and we all ate the same things.”

“She was our realtor when we bought the land for the ski lodge, and we became quite friendly with her.” Bill put aside his menu. “I should hope she’d have told us—or someone—if she felt her life was in danger.”

“None of us—and by us, I mean Granny, Scott, and Amy—knew this Barbara Hayter or had any desire to harm her,” Jackie said. “So, why are you here, Captain Spencer? And why are Sylvie and Professor Goodwin here?”

“Sylvie and Charles are here?” Bill asked.

“They were both here yesterday, but I haven’t seen either of them today.” Glancing outside, I saw two cars pulling into the parking lot and knew more would be arriving soon.

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