Reap What You Sew by Elizabeth Lynn Casey

Author:Elizabeth Lynn Casey [Casey, Elizabeth Lynn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
Tags: Crafts & Hobbies, Fiction, General, Librarians, Murder, Murder - Investigation, Mystery & Detective, Mystery Fiction, Sewing, South Carolina, Women Librarians, Women Sleuths
ISBN: 9781101561522
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 2012-04-02T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 14

By the time Tori walked through the door of Debbie’s Bakery, all she could see in her mind was a plate of chocolate—what kind didn’t matter—and a jumbo-sized cup of hot chocolate. She’d been down this road enough times to know it was her body’s way of craving a boost—something, anything to get through the rest of the day. But as enticing as the image was, she knew deep down inside it wasn’t going to matter.

All day long she’d done her best to focus on the library. She’d shelved, she’d tracked orders, she’d had a conference call with the board regarding the fast-approaching First Annual Holiday Book Extravaganza she’d been working on for months, and she’d read five stories to a handful of fascinated toddlers—all while dodging her fair share of glares from Dixie over coming into work when she said she wasn’t. And even with all of that, she hadn’t been able to get her mind off Anita Belise.

Or, rather, the murder of Anita Belise.

Because try as she might to think of a million ways the woman’s death could have been an accident, she knew in her gut it wasn’t. Educated adults with serious food allergies didn’t take eating lightly. Especially educated adults like Anita Belise, who told everyone under the sun about her allergy. The notion that she’d take a bite of a nut-laden brownie without a care in the world simply didn’t stack up.

Someone lying to the actress about the brownie’s true ingredients, however, did… .

Which is what had her worried.

If Chief Dallas was as predictable as Tori knew him to be, it wouldn’t be long before he paid the first of many official visits to his top trio of suspects—Leona, Margaret Louise, and her.

She knew this because they were the easy suspects. And Chief Dallas tended to latch onto the easy for far too long.

“Earth to Victoria, earth to Victoria, come in, Victoria. Do you copy?”

Shaking her head, she forced her focus onto the young girl behind the counter staring at her with a mixture of amusement and curiosity. Step by step, she closed the gap between them. “Sorry, Emma, I guess I was someplace else just then.”

Emma giggled and pushed a strand of strawberry blonde hair from her lightly freckled face. “I saw you walk in and then… boom… you just stopped. Like your feet were stuck to the floor or somethin’.” Bobbing her head to the left, the girl lowered her voice so as not to be overheard by anyone else. “I was hopin’ Mrs. Calhoun wouldn’t come out and see you, maybe think I hadn’t mopped well enough.”

A smile tugged her lips upward. “Trust me, Emma, Debbie is well aware of what a gem she has in you. She’s also well aware of how lost in thought I get at times.”

The sparkle in Emma’s sapphire blue eyes dulled ever so slightly. “Are you okay?”

She made herself nod. “Fine. Just a little distracted, I guess.”

“Jumbo-sized hot chocolate?” Emma asked, her hand reaching for the largest to-go cup they stocked without even waiting for Tori’s answer.

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