Never Say Pie by Carol Culver

Author:Carol Culver
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: mystery, cookies, murder, baking, cozy, food, Crystal Cove, cooking, pie, fiction, mystery novels, murder mystery, California, traditional cozy
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.
Published: 2012-06-17T22:00:00+00:00

Eight

I was too tired to fill a plastic bag with ice. The last thing I did before I fell into my queen-sized bed with the kind of spa/hotel quality sheets Grannie never had was to look out my window to see if Sam’s light was still on at the police station. It was. I ground my back teeth together in frustration. Then I swallowed two aspirin and finally fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning the Gazette was on my doorstep. I was afraid to pick it up and read it. I was sure there’d be a story about Heath, at least an obituary. But would there be a story about the break-in at the newspaper office? Or did no one know about it except for Sam and me, and the editor who wanted to keep it quiet?

I sure would have been happy to keep it quiet.

There it was, Heath’s picture on the front page. He looked like a normal thirty-something guy with longish hair and a look on his face as if he’d just tasted something he didn’t like or maybe he was trying to impress someone by looking critical. They’d also reprinted his last column on the Food Fair. Fine. All I needed was a repeat of the scathing review of my pies. My fellow vendors wouldn’t be happy either. I skimmed down to his obituary.

“Heath Winston Barr, Gazette Food and Lifestyle critic, is dead of a fatal homicidal attack while in his office on July 7. The question readers are bound to ask after ‘Who Did It?’ is ‘Can anyone be a food critic?’ The answer is yes, with this caveat. Not everyone can get paid for his work. Heath Barr fell into the category of volunteer. Which means he loved his work covering the Crystal Cover Summer Food Fair. His reward was honing his palate and discovering the fine foods grown and produced in Central California. Unfortunately someone disagreed with Heath’s opinions or his actions, which led to his untimely death at age thirty-seven. The police are investigating the crime and Chief Genovese requests that anyone with information leading to the arrest of Heath’s killer please contact the department at 800-734-5782.”

I turned the page of the paper and found another story in the crimes column. This was about the break-in at the newspaper office. “The Gazette editor reports nothing missing, but the search goes on for the intruder because of possible links to the murder of Heath Barr.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. While I was trying to decide whether to call Kate or Sam first, the phone rang. It was Jacques, the cheese salesman.

“Bonjour, my belle,” he said in that charming but faux accent of his.

“Hello Jacques. Comment ça va?”

“I was fine until today. Now I am terrible. That horrible man Heath. I thought he was dead but he lives on.”

“You’re referring to today’s newspaper.”

“I certainly am, no joking. But forget that. I’m having a party after the market on Saturday night at my farm.

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