How the Murder Crumbles by Debra Sennefelder

Author:Debra Sennefelder
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS

Chapter Fourteen

Mallory pulled open Heavenly Roast’s door and stepped inside, and the aroma of freshly ground coffee brewing greeted her. Her eyes fluttered closed as she inhaled. It took only two seconds to switch from her usual pick-me-up in the afternoon, iced matcha tea, to something hot and packed with caffeine. A double shot latte was what she was craving. Crossing the café, she paused a moment when she heard her name. She looked around and found Lauren seated at one of the tables. Changing course, Mallory approached her friend.

Lauren, dressed in her police uniform, sat with a large iced coffee. She gestured for Mallory to take a seat.

“Just the person I wanted to run into.” Mallory slung her backpack over the back of her chair. Once settled, she clasped her hands together on the table. “Do you know why Detective Hannigan is talking to Darlene?”

Lauren looked away and chewed on her lower lip. She didn’t have a poker face. She knew something—something about Mallory’s cousin and Beatrice.

Mallory unclasped her hands and rapped the table with her fingers. “Spill. What do you know?”

Lauren swirled her coffee. She looked conflicted. Mallory suspected there was a professional line she wanted to make sure she didn’t cross. Finally, after gulping a drink, she pushed the cup aside and leaned forward. Her voice was hushed. “I’ll deny telling you this. Understand?” She waited until Mallory nodded. “Two days before Beatrice’s murder, she and Darlene argued.”

Mallory was underwhelmed and sank back in her seat. “So? You’ve met both of them. Neither one ever met an argument they didn’t enjoy. And it was probably about the Garden Tour. Is that why he’s questioning her?”

“I’m not in the detective unit’s inner circle,” Lauren said. Her words had a hint of bitterness, but she hadn’t expressed an interest in going after a promotion. Though she was pushing thirty and had good instincts that came from years of experience. She’d make an excellent detective.

“Do you know Caitlyn Baxter?” Mallory asked.

Lauren shook her head.

“How about Emerson Lewis?”

“I know of her. Why are you asking about those women?”

“Darlene told me Emerson oversees the Mums, Merlot, and Mozart Festival. And Caitlyn is involved with it too.”

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing. I’m thinking about the bakery’s marketing for fall. I could make cookie bouquets to raffle off. Ooh, a basket of mum cookies!” Mallory clapped her hands together at the thought of an arrangement of multicolored mum-shaped cookies. And she could do a wineglass cookie bouquet. Ideas for cookies started popping up, and she reached for her backpack to grab her phone to make a few notes so she wouldn’t forget.

“Ah-ha.” Lauren sounded like she wasn’t buying Mallory’s explanation.

“Thanks for the intel, and my lips are sealed.” Mallory stuffed her phone into her backpack. Time to get her coffee and head back to the bakery.

“I saw on social media that you’re working with Luke Collins. You know, he worked with Beatrice.”

A smile slipped onto Mallory’s lips.

“Don’t tell me you hired him because he worked with Beatrice?”

Mallory waved off the suggestion.

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