Read Online Bad Bites: Donut Mystery #16 (The Donut Mysteries) by Jessica Beck - Free Book Online Page A

to begin our retail day.   Someone had been waiting for me, and I
ushered Shelly Graham into Donut Hearts.
    “Thank you,” she said as she dabbed at her makeup.   Shelly was a plump woman in her sixties,
not hiding the streaks of gray in her hair, but embracing them.   She wasn’t a particularly handsome
woman, but her bright smile was enough to make most folks not notice that.   I’d liked her from the first time we’d
met, but this was a different woman in front of me now.   “Suzanne, can we talk?”
    “Sure,” I said as a few other folks started filing in.   The folks who knew Shelly and, more
specifically, her relationship with Chester began to offer their sympathies, a
disrupting but sweet thing to have to deal with while trying to hold a
conversation.
    “Can we talk in private?” Shelly asked, clearly unhappy about the
attention she was getting.
    “Let’s go back into the kitchen,” I said as I led her around the counter
and into the back.  
    Emma was listening to music on her iPod, but when she spotted us, she
quickly pulled the buds from her ears.   “What’s up?”
    “Do you mind covering the front?” I asked.
    “I’m happy to do it,” Emma said, pausing just long enough to smile sadly
at Shelly.   “Sorry about
Chester.   I always liked him.”
    “Thank you,” Shelly said almost automatically in response.   “So did I.”
    Emma nodded, and then she left us alone.
    “Now, what can I do for you?” I asked her.
    “Suzanne, I need your help,” Shelly said.
    “Absolutely.   You know that I’ll
do whatever I can,” I told her.
    “Then find Chester’s killer,” she replied.
    “Shelly, the police are already working on it around the clock.”
    “I’ve heard all about your boyfriend, but we both know there are things
you can do that he can’t.   Are you trying
to solve the murder, too?”
    Even though that was exactly what I was doing, I was reluctant to admit
it.   “What makes you ask me that?”
    Shelly frowned.   “Suzanne,
I’ve listened to Phillip Martin over the past few months enough to realize that
you’re a pretty good investigator in your own right.”
    “What did he say about me?”   I
had to wonder what the chief said when he didn’t think that it would ever get
back to me.
    “That despite his protests to the contrary, a lot of times he wasn’t all
that upset when you and your friend Grace got involved in his cases.   Those were compliments given grudgingly,
believe me.   He respects what you
bring to the table.”
    “I should thank him for saying that.”
    “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Shelly said.   “I doubt that he’d even admit saying it.   You know how men can be sometimes.”
    “As a matter of fact, I do,” I said.   She was right, too.   I’d have
to take the secondhand compliment and be satisfied with it.
    “So, you’ll look into it?” Shelly asked.
    “I’ll try, but honestly, I’m not sure what I can do that Jake isn’t
already doing.”
    Shelly took a step closer to me, and I could feel her breath on my face
as she said, “Jake may know the law, but you know people.   I’m begging you to help out.”
    “There’s no need for that,” I said quickly.   In all honesty, her intensity was making
me a little uncomfortable.
    My response seemed to satisfy her.   “Thanks.   I can’t tell you
what a relief it is to hear you say that.”
    “Don’t give me too much credit.   I can’t promise results, just that I’ll do my best.”
    “It’s all that anyone can ask of you.”  
    There was something in her voice, a catch of concern that worried me a
little.   “Shelly, is there something
that you’re not telling me?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You’re holding something back, aren’t you?”   The furtive look downward confirmed my
suspicion.   Over the years, I’d
grown pretty adept at reading people’s body language, and Shelly was definitely
trying to keep something from me.   “What are