Plotted at the Sugar Mill Marketplace: an amateur sleuth cozy mystery (Sugar Mill Marketplace Mysteries Book 2) by Becky Clark

Author:Becky Clark [Clark, Becky]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-17T16:00:00+00:00

Dena

Dena picked up the phone and dialed her CPA. “Ginger! Duke is stealing from me!”

“What? No way!”

“Way! I was going over those old accounts and found more automatic withdrawals like to the gas company. They’re different though. Instead of being the same amount on the fifteenth of every month, these are all random. But get this … between the two of them they add up to five hundred dollars in both December and January! That’s the amount Duke told me I owed him!”

“You owed him? What are you talking about?”

Dena explained how Duke had come in there yelling at her that day.

“What are you saying, Dena?”

Dena lowered her voice. “I think Duke has been embezzling from the store all along.”

She heard Ginger’s intake of breath and then a quiet expletive. “Are you sure?”

“Well, I didn’t see him do it, if that’s what you mean, but yes, this seems pretty solid. Don’t you think?”

“I don’t know! This is just crazy. Hang on a minute, let me check my records and see if anything jumps out at me.”

Dena practically thrummed out of her skin, waiting for her to come back on the phone. When she did, all Ginger said was the same expletive she uttered earlier. Then, “I think you’re right.”

“Did I already ask if you had Duke’s address or phone?”

“I only mailed stuff to the bookstore address, but here’s the last phone number I have for him.” Ginger rattled off a number that Dena jotted down. “He’s not my client anymore, Dena, but let me look into it further. I feel responsible. I should have caught this. This is terrible. Absolutely terrible.”

Dena heard the dread and anxiety in Ginger’s voice. It broke her heart. Dena realized this could ruin Ginger’s business. Something like this couldn’t be good for an accountant’s reputation.

Dena realized Ginger had been talking to her. She didn’t know what she’d been saying, but interrupted her anyway. “No, Ginger. This is my problem. Let me handle it. I’ll let you know if I need anything, but I don’t want any of this to splash back on you.”

“Dena, I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re not asking. I’m telling. I’m going to handle it. I’ll figure it out without getting you involved.”

“Dena—”

“It’ll be fine. There’s plenty of evidence against him.”

“Have you gone to the police yet?”

“Not yet.”

“After what you told me, he sounds a little unhinged. Don’t do anything half-baked, Dena.”

“Oh, I’ll be fully baked, don’t you worry! Wait. That didn’t come out right. Seriously, though. Don’t worry. Duke Bughata will get what’s coming to him!”

Dena’s queasy stomach roiled. As she put her phone down, she noticed Jain and Wyatt standing there, gawking at her. She realized she might have sounded a bit like Kober just then, too loud and too hyperbolic, but those kids should be used to it by now.

The kids scurried off. Twist chased after them.

Dena dialed the number for Duke that Ginger had given her. It was disconnected too.

She had a brainstorm. After some checking on her phone, Dena picked up the empty brownie plate and went to see Kober in the bakery.

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