A Catered Christmas Killer (A Sinful Sweets Cozy Mystery) Read Online Free PDF Page A

of them for a few more hours. Even if today was their Christmas party, she figured they paid people to take care of the details so they didn’t have to worry about doing anything themselves.
     
    That was why Sydney was especially surprised to see Julia lying in a stagnant and coagulated puddle of her own blood on the white tiles of the kitchen, her two prized cats refusing to leave her side.

CHAPTER 2
     
    Sydney made herself not scream. She froze, hand to her mouth, unsure of what to do. It was Grace’s arrival that brought her back to life.
     
    “Hey Sydney. I had put the wrong number into my GPS and it brought me way across town. Apparently there are two streets with the same name in Newhall!” Grace said, coming into the kitchen. “Wow! You weren’t kidding when you told me this place was incredible to work in. This is a nicer kitchen than we have at Sinful Sweets! When are you going to upgrade?” Grace started walking around the kitchen, looking out the window, touching the counter, checking out the appliances under the counter.
     
    “Grace,” Sydney squeaked. Julia’s body was hidden behind the island, so Grace hadn’t seen it yet.
     
    “What’s up?”
     
    Sydney could only point. Grace walked around the rest of the island and saw the cause of Sydney’s speechlessness.
     
    “Oh . . . We need to call the police. Have you called them yet? Where’s Marcus?” Grace asked, fully taking charge of the situation.
     
    “Haven’t seen him yet,” Sydney managed to get out.
     
    Grace took her phone out of her pocket and called 9-1-1. Given her location at the wealthy Duran home, there were two cop cars outside almost before Grace got off the phone.
     
    The police immediately sprang to action, removing everyone from the room and separating them while they took stock of the crime scene in the kitchen.
     
    “Sydney, we’re going to have to get your statement. Do you think you can do that?” Detective Joe Moore asked gently.
     
    “Sure,” she replied hesitantly. The last time she’d had to give a statement, she’d ended up dating the arresting officer. Well, in truth, she’d never been arrested. But he’d picked her up and brought her in for questioning.
     
    “Just tell me everything that happened this morning.”
     
    “Well, I got up early because I had to finish baking for the Christmas party Julia and Marcus are having tonight. I showered and came downstairs. And the first thing I saw was Julia lying on the kitchen floor. Her cats were lying next to her. That’s it. Then Grace showed up and she called the cops. I guess I was in shock.”
     
    “Thanks. If you think of anything else, here’s my card. And Sydney, please don’t leave the state.” Joe handed her a card and turned to talk to Grace. Sydney didn’t like that she was growing a collection of detective’s cards.
     
    “Grace, you arrived at what time?” Joe asked.
     
    “It was about 5:40.”
     
    “And what did you see when you walked inside?” he continued.
     
    “Nothing at first. Well, I saw Sydney standing still, hand over her mouth. I guess her face was white, but I was so caught up in getting lost and getting here later than I’d planned that I didn’t notice that at first. But then she called me to come around to the other side of the island,” Grace pointed back toward the kitchen to indicate where she’d walked, “and I saw Julia lying on the floor.”
     
    “Thanks, Grace.” Detective Moore handed her a card as well.
     
    Sydney spotted Marcus sitting in a chair in the dining room. She didn’t know him well enough to offer any support, but he was the next to be questioned by Detective Moore. Sydney took that moment to pull Grace up the back stairs to her room, away from the chaos.
     
    “You were asked to not leave the state? ” Grace whispered as they walked up the stairs.
     
    “Yeah. I guess that makes me a suspect in the eyes of the cops.”
     
    “Are we out of a job?” Grace