All I Want For Christmas is Fudge (A Candy-Coated Mystery with Recipes Book 4) Read Online Free PDF

the crime scene. Shane would appreciate it, anyway.”
    Just mentioning his name got me all choked up. Allie put an arm around me and said, “Don’t worry, hon. He’ll come around.”
    I wiped the tears from my eyes before they could stain my cheeks. Collecting myself, I said, “Do you think our victim was visiting with his parents?”
    “I don’t know,” Allie said. “I don’t remember seeing too many older couples on the island for the Fun Run. But there didn’t seem to be any evidence of a bunch of guys in the house.”
    “What do you mean?” I asked.
    Allie sent me a thoughtful look. “Usually, if there’s a bunch of men staying at a lake house, there’d be beer cans and snack bowls and hamburger wrappers strewn around. All I saw inside was a closed suitcase in the bedroom and two wineglasses and a half-empty bottle of wine, plus a couple of full bottles.”
    “Sounds like he came with his wife or girlfriend,” I said.
    “Yeah, that’s the impression I got.”
    “Tim’s not local, so they must have rented the cabin.”
    “Or the girlfriend or wife owns it.”
    I made a face. “Can you imagine learning your husband or boyfriend was found in a snowbank with his head bashed in?”
    “No,” Allie said, hugging herself. “I hope I never have to. . . .”
    “Yeah,” I said as Marley raced back toward us. His expression looked like a full grin as he bounded through the snow with the candy cane in his mouth. “What a good boy!” I exclaimed. The sound of snowmobiles could be heard in the distance. Marley dropped the candy cane and took off in the direction of the sound. “Oh, boy, I hope Charles is ready for a one-hundred-and-twenty-pound playful dog jumping on him.”
    “I told Rex we found the dog,” Allie said with a twinkle in her eye. “It’s not our fault if they aren’t prepared for an enthusiastic greeting.”
    “Yow!” The shout made us both turn in the direction of the snowmobiles. Then there was laughter. Charles Brown and Officer Kelsey Lasko came around the cabin on their vehicles. Charles, who was a tall man with wide shoulders, a square jaw, and a patrician nose, had a giant dog in his lap. Even though Charles was a sizeable guy, Marley was still far too large to be a lapdog. The sight made us both laugh out loud.
    I waved them down and they cut their engines. Marley leapt off Charles’s lap and bounded toward me with his tongue hanging out. I had forgotten I had the rawhide in my hand until he tried to snag it from me. “Whoa!” I said. “No, you need to fetch.” I threw the rawhide and the dog went after it.
    “That dog is messing up the crime scene,” Officer Lasko said. She flipped her visor up and removed her helmet. “We’d better catch him and put him on a leash.” Officer Lasko was a pretty, petite blonde about the same age as Allie and I were, but for some reason she didn’t like Allie—not one bit. I suspected it was because Officer Lasko had a thing for the handsome Rex Manning, and Rex, well, everyone knew he had a thing for Allie. The trouble was Allie was dating the heartbreakingly handsome Trent Jessop. If Rex had any eyes in his head, he’d take Officer Lasko out to dinner and maybe tensions would ease up a bit.
    “I’ve been throwing the rawhide away from the door and the footprints,” I said. “We were as careful as possible with the scene.”
    Marley came bounding back toward me with the rawhide in his mouth. He stopped a few feet from me, turned, and headed straight to Officer Lasko.
    “Watch out!” Allie called, but it was too late. Marley knocked Officer Lasko down, pinned her shoulders, and licked her face.
    I winced, expecting screams, but instead I heard laughter. The sound was clear and happy and made me smile. I looked at Allie and she looked at me. We both were surprised and delighted by Officer Lasko’s reaction.
    Charles went over and pulled the big, sweet dog off his partner. His chuckle joined Officer Lasko’s, Allie’s, and