Read Online The Chocolate Puppy Puzzle by JoAnna Carl - Free Book Online

dead?”
    “Pretty sure,” I said. I didn’t describe the feel of his hand. “Of course, it might not be Mr. Snow. I couldn’t see his face.”
    Aunt Nettie was looking concerned. “My goodness, Aubrey. Silas Snow is Maia’s uncle.”
    Aubrey’s eyes popped. “Not the one who owns the farm where Love Leads the Way happened?”
    We all nodded.
    “My God!” Aubrey appeared genuinely shocked. “Maia and I were out there this morning.”
    “Silas was angry with Maia. They had a big argument at the Rinkydink,” I said.
    Aubrey nodded solemnly. “She told me he was eccentric, warned me he might refuse to let us use the property.”
    “I’m surprised he let you on the place at all,” Joe said.
    “I guess Maia didn’t ask permission. We didn’t go to his house. We dropped by the fruit stand as we were leaving, but Maia said since his truck was gone, he must not be there. Maia drove us over there by some back road.”
    Joe nodded. “Maia probably knows every inch of the property, since it belonged to her grandparents. Besides, the place adjoins Ensminger’s Orchards, where she and Vernon live.”
    “Did Maia marry the boy next door?” I asked.
    Aunt Nettie shook her head. “No, both farms originally belonged to Mae’s grandfather. Mae’s mother died young, while her father was still alive, so Mae inherited that half of the family holdings. Luckily, Vernon was interested in farming it, so they just built a house and moved there.”
    “Does Silas have children?”
    “I’m sure he never married.”
    “No children to speak of,” Aubrey said. He chuckled. Joe and I smiled politely. Aunt Nettie looked puzzled, as if she didn’t get the joke. It occurred to me that she was putting on an act; Aunt Nettie may look like a sweet, innocent lady, but she knows what’s going on in the world, and I was sure she had caught Aubrey’s feeble joke. I wondered what she was up to.
    “Silas terrorized Warner Pier kids for fifty years,” Joe said. “Not that we didn’t deserve it.”
    “Why was that?” Aubrey asked.
    “Snow’s orchards were the equivalent of the local haunted house. The legend about the buried bank loot has been around since my mom was a girl—actually a lot longer. We always dared each other to go out there and dig for treasure. Then Silas would chase us off.”
    “He was threatening to get out his shotgun this afternoon,” I said.
    Aubrey’s eyes got big. “I guess we were lucky to get off the place in one piece.”
    “I doubt he would have shot at Maia,” Joe said.
    “He might have if he’d known that—” Aubrey stopped talking in the middle of his sentence and took a drink of his coffee. We all stared at him, but he didn’t seem to be planning to say any more.
    “Known what?” I asked.
    “Oh, nothing. Nothing at all.” Aubrey answered in a way that made it obvious “nothing” meant “something.”
    I started to ask again, but Joe crossed his legs and managed to nudge my ankle in the process. His hint was pretty clear, though I didn’t understand why he didn’t want me to quiz Aubrey.
    Aubrey turned his charm on Aunt Nettie. “Wonderful coffee and wonderful chocolates,” he said. He pointed to the plate she’d brought out, almost touching a milk chocolate truffle. His effort to change the subject was transparent. “Now what’s this one?”
    “Coffee,” Aunt Nettie answered. “A truffle covered and filled with milk chocolate that’s been flavored with Caribbean coffee. The dark chocolate truffle next to it is Dutch caramel. According to our sales sheet, it’s ‘creamy, European-style caramel in dark chocolate.’ It’s a soft caramel—not like Kraft’s.”
    Aubrey was looking entirely too innocent. “Do you ever make any peach or apple flavored chocolates?” he said. “TenHuis Chocolade is in the center of fruit country—or so I judge by my trip to Snow’s farm and Ensminger Orchards.”
    “We make chocolates flavored with strawberry and raspberries,”