The Tea Shoppe Mysteries by Darlene Franklin

Author:Darlene Franklin [Lilly, Teresa Ives; Franklin, Darlene; Hickey, Cynthia; Johnson, Linda Baten]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781643527543
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2021-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 2

I whirled, gripped Sue by the shoulders, and gave her a shake. “Call the police,” I said again. When she continued screaming, I shook her harder. “Now!”

As she dashed from the room, I squared my shoulders and studied the scene with a clinical detachment. I focused on what I had learned in my college class dealing with blood spatter. Yes, I might drift off to la-la land on a regular basis, but I could clearly see that Roy hadn’t killed himself. He was left-handed for one, and the gun hung from his right hand. And the angle of the spatter was all wrong. It was even on the wrong wall. Someone had killed my former boss and tried to stage it to look like a suicide.

I removed my phone from my pocket and started snapping pictures, shoving aside my grief at Roy’s death. I’d deal with that emotion later. Right now I needed to prove to myself I have what it takes to be a forensic scientist.

When sirens wailed to a stop outside the building, I slid my phone back into my pocket, took one last look at a good man, and then joined Sue by the front desk. I swallowed back tears and waited to be questioned.

Two police officers headed to Roy’s office after I pointed, and another kept Sue in the reception area while telling me to find a different room and wait there. I went to the conference room and stared at the scones still sitting on the sideboard. I’d never deliver them here again.

“I’d like to ask you some questions, ma’am.” A middle-aged officer, ROGEN, his badge said, took a seat across from me. “Name first.”

“Ashley Lawrence. I work at Tea by the Sea.”

“You found the body?”

I nodded. “I found it strange that Roy wasn’t waiting for his scones.” My gaze fell on the bag again. “I deliver them every day by four.”

“How well did you know the deceased?” His pen scratched across the surface of his notepad.

“I used to be the receptionist here.” I swallowed past the lump in my throat.

“Have you noticed anything different about Mr. Miller lately? Has he been depressed, out of sorts?”

“No, but I haven’t worked here in several months. I only see him when I deliver his scones. Who wouldn’t be happy knowing they were going to bite into one of those?”

“I wouldn’t know.” He sat back in his chair, spearing me with his glare.

After several seconds of silence, I blurted out, “He didn’t kill himself.”

“Who said he did?” Officer Rogen folded his hands on the tabletop. “What makes you sure it wasn’t suicide?”

“The blood spatter, and he’s left-handed.”

“You’re observant.”

“I’m taking classes at the college.”

“Let’s assume you’re right. Did Mr. Miller have any enemies?”

I shrugged. “Not that I know of. Sue said he had a meeting planned with some clients, but I don’t know who they were.”

“We’ll get that information from her.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “The receptionist said someone locked her in the storage room, and that you were the one to let her out.

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