Cookies and Chaos by C A Phipps

Author:C A Phipps [Phipps, C A]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cheryl Phipps
Published: 2018-09-19T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Ethan had been very glad she had called him last night. He was interested and worried in equal measure. Glad that she and Cora were safe, he also praised her for calling Rob and hoped to be back in Maple Falls this morning so that he could talk to her face to face.

As much as hearing his voice had made her feel a little better, Maddie hadn’t slept well. Thoughts of the innuendo’s and the purchasing of random paintings and what they meant ran around inside her head. When she finally had enough of tossing and turning, she got up and began to bake. Keeping her hands busy and her mind focused on something else nearly always helped settle her.

Today it wasn’t doing so well. She put the bread dough to rise and a chocolate cake in the oven, then went to the alcove to fire up her laptop.

A key in the door startled her, but it was only Gran. Maddie could see that she had heard about last night by the intense look on her usually sunny face.

“I see you locked the door. At least I can be grateful for that.”

“Who told you?”

“Cora called this morning to make sure you were okay. She started off by talking about coming on our next community center trip and how she’d need to ask Dan to work in the Gallery.”

“And?”

“And I knew she was trying hard not to tell me something. Eventually, she let slip that you and she had a couple of dodgy clients last night to deal with.”

“They weren’t boy scouts, for sure.”

“I don’t know how you find time to get into these situations, granddaughter.”

“Me either, but Cora is our friend and I couldn’t leave her alone with them. She was scared.”

Gran sighed. “I guess not. What am I saying? I wouldn’t have left her alone either. So now we have a dead body and odd happenings at the gallery. Anything else you’d hoped to keep from me?”

Maddie was reluctant to impart any further knowledge, because she didn’t want Gran to worry any more than she was, but the look Gran was giving her meant there was only one way out of this and that was to tell her everything and trust it wouldn’t be detrimental to her nearly seventy-year-old health.

“I haven’t told anyone else and Ethan wants to keep this quiet for now. Owen was definitely gassed with carbon monoxide. The tests should be back if that was the actual cause of death.”

“Well, that’s not really news, is it? Most of the retirement community saw and heard that it was likely. What else?”

“He was hit over the head with a pipe. Probably the same one that was used to allow the gas to enter the van.”

“Nasty. What are you doing on the computer?” Gran asked suspiciously.

“I’m looking for any information regarding Nicholas Brack.”

“Nicholas? Why him?”

“I hear he’s been a bit of a recluse for some time, but one of the men at Cora’s wanted any of his works. Even one that was damaged.

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