Shredding the Evidence (A Cookbook Nook Mystery 9) by Daryl Wood Gerber

Author:Daryl Wood Gerber [Gerber, Daryl Wood]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Beyond the Page
Published: 2020-04-20T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Monday morning, Bailey rang me as I was running on the beach. She hadn’t been able to sleep. She’d worried all night about whether the police would believe Jake Chapman’s sighting of Tito. Seeing as she was on pins and needles waiting for the answer and because she wasn’t one hundred percent certain that Jake’s testimony would exonerate her husband, she’d decided to go to Crystal Cove High School and meet with the principal. She wanted to follow up on Tina’s account regarding Midge’s daughter. She believed if she could provide a better motive for Midge, then Cinnamon might haul Midge into the precinct and grill her.

“Will you go with me?” Bailey begged. “Please?”

After eleven a.m., I expected a steady stream of customers at the shop, seeing as that was when the Nook’s six-hours-of-lunch event would commence, but the first couple of hours would be quiet.

“Sure,” I said. How could I refuse?

I ate a quick breakfast, dressed sedately in a white silk blouse, tweed blazer, and beige trousers, and took Tigger to the shop. Gran arrived minutes after I did. Quickly, I explained my mission with Bailey and asked Gran to watch over things. I added that Aunt Vera had texted me; she was already on her way in. She had scheduled an early-morning tarot reading. Gran assured me that the two of them could manage the shop.

Crystal Cove High School was located near Azure Park. Its architecture matched the rest of the town, with its white buildings and red-tiled roofs, but it wasn’t a large campus, serving less than a thousand students. I had wonderful memories from my years there—art classes, acting in a play or two, rooting for the Toreadors, and, yes, attending a few parties.

Principal Baker was the same woman who had overseen my years at high school. She was also the home economics teacher who had guided Katie to her glorious future as a chef. If only I’d have taken a class or two back then.

“You’re here!” Bailey cried as she hopped out of an Uber near the administration office. She grabbed me in a bear hug and released me. “I see you got the outfit memo.” She flourished a hand in front of her clothes: white blouse, beige slacks, tweed jacket. “Have we dressed to impress?”

I smiled. “I decided to up my game to show respect.”

“Me, too. Great minds think alike.” Bailey linked her hand around my elbow and ushered me into the building.

The receptionist, Mrs. Garofalo, the same cherry-cheeked woman who’d sat at the L-shaped oak desk for nearly two decades, greeted us. “Ladies, you look like the Bobsey twins.”

Bailey giggled. “Not on purpose.”

“I used to dress like my best friend, too,” Mrs. Garofalo said. “It was like we had ESP. She still calls me, out of the blue, exactly when I’m thinking of her. It’s nice to have that kind of friend.” She depressed the intercom button on the telephone and announced that we were here.

Principal Baker replied through the speaker, “Send them in.

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