Read Online M&M Surprise Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 17 by Susan Gillard - Free Book Online

Ryan said. “She was shot and
then passed out from the pain. The killer removed the arrow from her shoulder,
so we don’t know what she was shot with.”
    Heather’s sleuthin’ mind kicked into
high gear. “Wait, the killer removed the arrow but didn’t try to finish Leticia
off?” She grimaced at the turn of phrase.
    “They probably thought she was dead.”
    “Or they panicked. Maybe this attack
wasn’t planned out properly. Not premeditated.” Heather sucked her bottom lip.
“But why? Why Leticia.”
    “Your guess is as good as mine,” Ryan
replied.
    “No. No guessing,” Heather said.
“Leticia Jackson knows something. Why else would the killer have attacked her?”
    “Psychopathy?” Ryan suggested. He let
go of Heather, and stepped back, then leaned against the wall. “What are you
thinking?”
    “I believe that I need to pay Leticia
a visit tomorrow. For her sake and the benefit of every other resident of
Hillside.” Heather exhaled slowly. Her heart rate had returned to normal, at
last. “This killer clearly has no trouble with the idea of killing again. We
can’t allow that.”
    “I agree,” Ryan said. “Now, let’s go
back into the living room and enjoy ourselves. Have a donut. The sugar will do
you good.” He slipped his hand beneath her elbow and guided her toward the
cheers in the living room.
    Leticia Jackson. Her name burned
through Heather’s mind. What did the gold medalist know? And what had driven
the killer to strike again?
    “Tomorrow,” Heather whispered.

Chapter 16
    Leticia’s drip bag hovered to the left
of her bed, but the room was silent. No heart rate monitors, or steady blip,
blip noise to make sure she didn’t go into cardiac arrest. The Olympian sat
bolt upright in bed, her arm bandaged tight.
    “I thought you might come to see me,”
she said.
    “I’m used to more noise in these
rooms,” Heather replied. “Kinda quiet isn’t it?”
    “I made them turn off all those
beeping machines. Totally unnecessary. I was shot in the arm, not through the
heart, for heaven’s sake.”
    Pragmatic as ever. Leticia leaned back
against her pillows, a small smile playing on her mouth. “Like I said, I
thought you might come visit.”
    “Why were you so sure?”
    Leticia’s smile split into a grin.
“Because I know intelligence when I see it. And you’re one of a kind, Mrs.
Shepherd.”
    “I’m flattered,” Heather said and
grasped the Donut Delights box in her left hand. She’d loaded it up with every
type of donut she could fit inside. Heather pointed at the chair beside the
hospital bed. “Mind if I sit down?”
    “Only if I can have one of those
donuts,” Leticia replied.
    Heather popped the box on the judge’s
lap. “Help yourself.” She sat down in the chair, then propped her elbows on her
knees and leaned on them.
    Leticia opened the donut box and
brought out an M&M Surprise. “Oh, I love M&Ms,” she said. “My guilty
pleasure.”
    “You’re in the hospital. No guilt.”
    Leticia took a bite of the donut, then
groaned. “Delicious.” She chewed in silence, swallowed, then speared Heather
with a gaze. “And yeah, there’s some guilt floating around in this room. All of
it is mine, though.”
    “No, I claim some of it.”
    “What?” Leticia asked, and took
another bite. “Why?”
    “Because I was the one who asked you
to meet me at the fields. If you hadn’t been there…”
    “It would’ve happened anyway,” Leticia
replied. “I have my suspicions about who did it, I’m sure you do too, but
first, you need to hear what I have to say.”
    “I’m all ears,” Heather replied.
Leticia was a woman after her own heart. She got straight to the point and
didn’t linger on formalities.
    “I omitted some information during our
talk yesterday,” she said.
    “Oh yeah?”
    “Yeah,” Leticia replied. “A couple of
days ago, the afternoon before the competition was supposed to start. Jessica
Laverne came to see me.”
    Jinx? Heather forced