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

Aunt Nettie said. “I’ve never come up with anything mixing chocolate and apple that I thought was very tasty. And chocolate seems to overwhelm peach flavor.”
    “Maia mentioned that you do dipped fruits.”
    “Yes, but not peaches or apples.”
    Joe jumped back in the conversation. “How was Maia tonight? Still artsy?”
    Aubrey frowned. “She was rather quiet.”
    “She was Mae tonight,” Aunt Nettie said. “Really, it was a very nice evening. You’re a perfect host, Aubrey, and Maia was quite her old self. You must have tired her out trotting around Snow’s orchards.”
    “Did you take Monte out to Snow’s?” Joe’s voice was extremely casual.
    “Yes. Of course, I had to keep him on his leash, but he enjoyed running around and doing a bit of digging. He—” Aubrey’s voice came to an abrupt halt for a few seconds before he spoke again. “I promised Maia I wouldn’t say anything.”
    We were back to what Aubrey and Maia had found at Snow’s place. And I had the idea that Aubrey wanted us to ask about it, whether Joe thought we should or not.
    “Okay,” I said. “I’ll bite. What did you and Maia find?”
    Aubrey grinned. “Haven’t you guessed?”
    I hesitated, but Joe spoke up. “Buried treasure?”
    “I’m afraid so.” Aubrey produced the big, beat-up wallet—the one Monte had handed me that afternoon—from an inside pocket of his jacket.
    “Where was it?” Joe said.
    “Right near the old house, the one Dennis Grundy stayed in.”
    “Don’t tell me it was buried in an old mayonnaise jar,” Joe said.
    Aubrey grinned. “I won’t tell you that if you don’t want me to, but it was. Actually an old fruit jar with a solid metal top. A cliché, I know. Maia kept the jar and most of the money.”
    Aubrey laid the wallet and the big bills out on the coffee table, and we all bent over it.
    So Aubrey and Maia had found some money that might be part of the legendary bank loot supposedly buried by Dennis Grundy. This was very interesting. It also raised a lot of questions.
    “My goodness,” Aunt Nettie said. “That was a lucky find.”
    Joe spoke mildly. “That was an amazing find. You say it was right near the ruins of the old cottage?”
    Aubrey nodded, very deadpan.
    Joe grinned. “I could have sworn that—during the summer I was twelve—I dug over every square foot of the lot where that house is.”
    Aubrey grinned back and raised his eyebrows. “Yes, Maia and I were lucky. Of course, we had Monte to guide us. But it almost looked as if one of us knew right where to dig.”
    I interpreted this as meaning he thought Maia had buried the money herself.
    Why? Why would she do that? Why would Maia bother to get hold of some of the old money, then bury it? She would have had to go to a coin and money collector or dealer for the money, then buy an old wallet. And an old canning jar.
    I had to admit all those things would be easy to find in a casual crawl of Warner Pier antique shops. The money might be a little hard to locate, but the canning jar would be a cinch, and the old wallet wouldn’t be too hard. The easiest part of all would be burying the treasure. But why bother?
    That was a good question. Or I thought it was until I thought of a better one. I asked it. “Aubrey, what attracts you to Maia’s novel? I mean, why make it into a film?”
    “It’s a compelling story,” he said.
    “Around Warner Pier, I’m afraid Love Leads the Way isn’t considered great literature.”
    Aubrey laughed. “I’m afraid it wouldn’t be considered great literature anyplace. But that’s not the point. The point is that it could make a great movie.”
    “Why?”
    “It’s got everything: sex, violence, star-crossed lovers fighting obstacles to be together. An upbeat ending when Julia Snow leads Dennis Grundy away from a life of crime. And it’s based on a true story.”
    “Is that important?” Joe said. “There are dozens of different versions of the Julia Snow–Dennis Grundy romance