Read Online The Crêpes of Wrath: A Pancake House Mystery by Sarah Fox - Free Book Online

thunderous question boomed through the small room. His level of disbelief matched my own.
    “I didn’t. I swear.” Leigh’s eyes glistened with desperation as well as tears.
    “Of course you didn’t.” I rubbed her back but then stilled my hand as I recalled her earlier words. “He thinks you had motive
and
opportunity? But you were here all morning.”
    “I was late, remember?”
    “Sure, but you walked your kids to day care. Didn’t anyone else see you there?”
    “I exchanged hellos with a couple of other parents, but it’s the time between leaving the day care and arriving here that’s the problem.”
    “That should have only taken fifteen minutes or so on foot. Surely Sheriff Georgeson can’t think that was enough time to kill Jimmy, especially since your car wasn’t working.”
    “Except it took me half an hour, and I could have intentionally drained the car’s battery afterward to make it look like it wasn’t working that day.”
    Ivan muttered a curse under his breath, one that summed up my own opinion of that theory.
    Leigh wiped at another tear. “And Greg can’t vouch for the fact that the battery was dead because he left the house before I tried starting the car that morning.”
    I focused on her earlier words. “Why did it take you half an hour to get here?”
    “I was only five minutes away when a car drove through a big puddle and splashed me. I was completely soaked through to my skin, so I ran home to change before coming here.”
    “But somebody must have seen you.”
    Leigh shook her head, fresh tears escaping her eyes. “The fog was too thick. I don’t think the driver of the car even saw me.”
    My shoulders sagged as I realized she was right. The dense fog had shrouded the entire town for hours that morning. Even Leigh’s neighbors wouldn’t have been able to see her coming and going from her house.
    Leigh dropped her head into her hands again. “What am I going to do?”
    I put a hand on her back as she sobbed. When I glanced Ivan’s way, he took a step back into the hallway.
    “Coffee,” he said gruffly.
    He strode off toward the kitchen, but not before I caught a fleeting glimpse of a crack in his usual glower. Although the set of his jaw never changed, the sternness in his eyes had softened, just for a split second. As fierce and intimidating as the chef was, I knew then that Ivan truly cared for Leigh.
    Returning my attention to the distraught waitress, I gave her back a comforting pat. “Everything will be all right, Leigh.”
    She raised her tear-streaked face. “Will it? I’ve got kids to take care of. I can’t go to jail.”
    “You’re not going to jail,” I said firmly. “You know you’re innocent and I know you’re innocent. Somehow we’ll figure out how to prove it. I promise.”
    As Leigh gave me a tremulous but grateful smile, I sincerely hoped that was a promise I could keep.
    —
    Once Leigh had cleaned herself up and Ivan had supplied her with a cup of hot coffee, I ensconced myself in the office, determined to deal with some of the most pressing paperwork before we opened for business. Focusing wasn’t an easy task, but I forced myself to buckle down and get to work. Whatever would happen to The Flip Side now that Jimmy was gone, I was determined that the business wouldn’t suffer because of any action or inaction on my part.
    After I’d taken care of some unpaid invoices and made a phone call to one of The Flip Side’s suppliers, I pushed back my chair and glanced at the clock on the wall. The time had ticked past seven o’clock as I worked and I knew the first customers of the day would arrive soon, if they hadn’t already. Yet, instead of getting up and joining Leigh in the dining area, I sat back and closed my eyes, finally letting my thoughts stray away from business matters.
    I didn’t want to question Leigh about Jimmy and remind her of her predicament while she was working, but maybe I could start by asking Ivan the same