Counterfeit Confections by Jessica Beck

Author:Jessica Beck
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: bake cook food eat donut mystery cozy jessica beck
Publisher: Cozy Publishing
Published: 2019-05-11T16:00:00+00:00

THE DOOR TO THE REAL estate office was unlocked, so evidently we were in luck. A smart-looking woman in her midfifties was sitting behind a massive desk with the nameplate MAXINE HALLIDAY sitting front and center. The most noticeable thing about her was the large floppy hat she wore, pulled down on one side enough to nearly cover one eye. I wouldn’t have worn that hat under gunpoint, but she seemed comfortable enough with it, even if it did nearly obscure her vision out of one eye. Maxine was reading something fascinating on her laptop computer. Whether it was business or personal I couldn’t say, since the screen was turned away from us. As Jake and I walked in, she immediately shut her laptop with a slam, making me wonder what exactly she’d been reading about.

“Hello. Welcome to Ultra Elite Prime Properties Real Estate,” she said, offering Jake her hand. She shook mine as well, though not nearly as enthusiastically. Maxine must have been stunning as a young woman, but the years had not been kind to her. Too much sun and not enough care had taken their toll on her, though she was valiantly trying to disguise the fact with a rather liberal application of makeup. “I’m Maxine Halliday. And you are?”

Before I could speak, Jake answered for us. “We’re the owners of the house you were snooping around this morning.”

Instead of being intimidated by our knowledge, she simply laughed. “I’m afraid you’ll have to be a little more specific than that. I’m often found creeping around places I don’t belong. This morning I checked out four separate properties I’m going to try to get the listings for.”

Jake gave her the address, and she nodded knowingly. “Oh, yes. I wanted a look at the place in person. The listing was gone nearly the moment it was placed, and I wanted to see if I’d missed something. I didn’t,” she said with that same ready smile. “You’ve got your work cut out for you on that project.”

“That’s an interesting hat you’re wearing,” I said, not able to help myself. It wasn’t a part of the investigation, but I couldn’t keep from staring at it, so I figured I had to say something about it or she’d notice my steady gaze at her covered forehead.

“It was a gift from a friend,” she said, trying to blow my question off.

“That must have been some friend,” I said softly.

I hadn’t even realized that she’d heard me say it. “Why do you say that?”

“It’s just that it’s ... so flamboyant, wouldn’t you say?” Flamboyant? Where had I come up with that?

“Thank you,” she said, choosing to take it as a compliment. “Have you come by to ask me to represent you when you sell the property after you fix it up? You might be surprised to learn that you might make a larger profit if you sell it right now, as it stands. I’ve seen too many flips fail when people fail to account for all of the expenses they are going to incur.

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