Read Online Killing the Carnations (A Heavenly Highland Inn Cozy Mystery) by Cindy Bell - Free Book Online Page A

lightly on her aunt's shoulder.
    “Don't,” she warned her. “We need to find out who did know about the passage, it's better if Nicholas knows nothing about it at all.”
    “ Why do you say that?” Nicholas asked quizzically as he studied her. “Don't you think I'm guilty?”
    “ No,” Vicky suddenly said and shook her head. “No, I don't Nicholas. I don't think you had anything to do with this. I'm sorry if I made you feel that I did.”
    Nicholas studied her , as if he was trying to figure out whether to believe her or not.
    “ It's okay, Nicholas,” Aunt Ida reassured him. “If Vicky believes your innocent that means she'll do everything in her power to prove it.”
    “ Yes, I will,” Vicky agreed.
    “ You will?” Mitchell questioned as he jogged up to the small gathering. “What's going on here?” he demanded as he looked between Aunt Ida, Nicholas, and Vicky.
    “ How did you get here so fast?” Vicky asked as she looked from him to the parking lot. Mitchell shifted awkwardly and then lowered his voice.
    “ Once we released Nicholas, I wanted to make sure you were okay,” he murmured. “So I might have been camping out in the parking lot.”
    “ Might have been?” Vicky arched an eyebrow.
    Mitchell drew his lips into a thin line of warning. She knew that he had a job to do, and he needed to focus on it.
    “I want all of you to tell me everything you know, now please,” Mitchell said sternly as he flipped open his notebook.
    Vicky described remembering and then finding the passageway, and showed him the shoeprints she had taken pictures of. Then she took Mitchell aside and confessed to hiding in Emily's closet and finding what she believed to be the murder weapon.
    “ I know that you need a search warrant,” Vicky explained. “That's why I left it right where it was. I didn't touch the handle or the metal part at all,” she insisted when she saw his disapproving expression.
    “ Vicky, I care about the evidence, but I also care about you,” he reminded her. “If Emily had something to do with this, then you were in danger the entire time you were in her room. You should have called me the moment you found the passageway.”
    “ Well, maybe if you had told me that you were hanging out in the parking lot I would have,” Vicky pointed out with a small smile.
    “ Good point,” Mitchell smiled a little, too. He glanced down at the notepad he was holding and then back up at the room they were standing in front of. “I highly doubt it was Emily who actually committed the murder,” he said and clenched his jaw. “Something does not make sense here.”
    Vicky had her suspicions but she was not ready to share them with Mitchell. She had already assumed that one man, whom she was now convinced was innocent, might be guilty. She didn't want to make the same mistake twice.
    “ Do you know where Emily is now?” Mitchell asked Vicky.
    “ Actually I do,” she replied with raised eyebrows. She led Mitchell towards the kitchen while Aunt Ida hung back with Nicholas to discuss what they had both seen in the passageway.
    “ Do you think she's okay with him?” Mitchell asked as Vicky unlocked the side door into the kitchen.
    “ I think so,” Vicky nodded as she glanced over her shoulder just in time to see Aunt Ida embrace Nicholas warmly. Despite the tension of the situation she found herself smiling at the sight.

Chapter Six
     
    When Mitchell and Vicky walked into the kitchen, Henry and Emily looked up guiltily from their bowls of ice cream that were next to a huge bucket of ice cream.
    “ Vicky, I can explain,” Henry said quickly.
    “ Henry, give us a moment alone please,” Vicky said in a stern tone as she settled her gaze on Emily. Mitchell had asked Vicky to stay with him because he thought it would make Emily feel more at ease.
    “ Sure,” Henry nodded and glanced nervously at Emily. “But I swear it was my idea...”
    “ This is a police matter, Henry,” Mitchell explained and