Mission Inn-possible 03 - Cocoa Conviction by Rosie A Point

Author:Rosie A Point
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2020-04-14T22:00:00+00:00

18

Lauren and I stood in front of the inn, handing out Easter party packs to the kids who streamed by, most of them gleeful and red-cheeked after the afternoon of fun. That was the one positive out of all of this—the parents and kids didn’t seem too unhappy about the fact that the hunt had been called off short.

Everyone had gotten their fill of cocoa cupcakes and had found enough Easter eggs—though there were more hidden and Smulder would probably be tasked with hunting for them and bringing them in. My stomach growled, and I envied the kids and parents their treats. We’d packed them full of treats, including sugary churros, cupcakes, bags of chips and mini-pizzas.

Thankfully, there were some leftovers in the kitchen.

“Thank you.” Chrissy accepted a bag from me, grinning broadly. Trinity was nowhere in sight, but her husband, Jerry, stood next to their daughter and offered me a wan smile.

“Got everything you need, Mr. Malone?” I asked.

“Yes, thank you. This was a lot of fun for Chrissy.”

“Is your wife all right? She’s not here today.”

“Oh, yeah,” Jerry said, and shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “She, uh, she went to go do some shopping in Gossip. You take care. We’ll see you at dinner.” He swept an arm around Chrissy’s shoulders and guided her off.

The stream of kids and parents continued, most of them moving down the road that led to the parking area outside of the inn’s gates. Others, guests who were staying at the inn, entered and settled into their rooms. The detective’s car was still parked out front, but it seemed the forensic team had finished their work, at least.

A woman strode down the pathway toward the inn, rather than away from it, glossy black hair falling to her shoulders. She was familiar, and I struggled to place her in my mind. A bolt of recognition shot through me.

Jacinta Redgrave!

She was the long-nailed, vicious editor of the Gossip Rag—Gossip’s newspaper—and she’d printed truly abhorrent things about the inn and my grandmother two months ago when the last murderous ‘incident’ had gone down. I’d threatened her for it in her offices and Smulder had had to drag me away. Nobody messed with my Gamma.

“Oh no,” I muttered. “No, no, no.”

“What’s wrong?” Lauren asked, as she handed out another bag of treats. “Charlie?”

“Stay here, Lauren. I’ll handle this.”

“Handle what?” she asked, but I was already off, squeezing past the waiting parents and kids.

I intercepted Jacinta a few feet from the line, putting up both my palms. “Don’t come any closer,” I replied.

“Ah. Charlotte,” Jacinta said, flashing pearly white teeth. “You remember me.” Why did she seem so pleased about that?

“How could I forget? You’re the wannabe editor who tried to sink Georgina’s inn.”

“Sink her inn?” Jacinta tittered a laugh. “There’s no need to be so dramatic. Now, I’ve noticed there are a few police officers hanging around, any idea why that might be?” She’d already brought her phone out of her pocket and directed it toward me.

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