Bad Bites: Donut Mystery #16 (The Donut Mysteries) Read Online Free PDF Page A

said.
    Jake studied me for a moment before he spoke.   “Are you serious?   Who would want to kill a librarian?”
    “More folks than you might imagine.   Would you like a rundown of them right now?”
    “It might be helpful,” Jake said, and then we both heard a ruckus at the
door where folks were filing past Officer Grant.   “Maybe later, okay?   I’d better go see what’s going on.”
    “Sure thing, Chief,” I said with the hint of a smile.
    “Interim Chief,” he corrected me.
    “Sorry, but that’s just too clunky for me to say.”
    Jake didn’t answer as he hurried over to see what the commotion was
about.  
    I hadn’t seen Grace standing off to one side, but she quickly joined me
as Jake left my side.
    “I wonder what that’s all about?” Grace asked me.
    “It appears that Vince Dade has a problem with authority,” I said.   “Maybe it’s because he’s got to be on
every suspect list that’s being created right now.”
    “There was certainly never any love lost between him and Chester while
the man was alive,” Grace said.   “How could he possibly think that he’s helping his case right now by
making a scene?”
    “I’ve got a hunch that he’s not thinking all that clearly,” I said as I
saw Jake clamp a hand down on Vince’s shoulder.   The man winced under the pressure Jake
was applying, and his voice lowered almost immediately.
    “Suzanne, you’ve got to hand it to your boyfriend.   That’s some good crowd-control skills he
has going on there.”
    “Among other things,” I said.   “By the way, he’s agreed to let us investigate on the side, if you’re up
for it.   What do you say?”
    “Do you even have to ask?”
    “I don’t know.   I thought that
I should,” I said.
    “Of course I’m all in.   This
has to be hard on your new stepdad.”
    “I’m sure that it is,” I said, “but Momma’s the one I’m worried
about.   She’s concerned about what
this might do to her husband, so I promised her that we’d do what we could to
help.”
    “Where should we get started?” Grace asked.
    “Let’s go somewhere quiet and make a list of anyone we can come up with who
might have wanted Chester dead and why.”
    “That’s as good a place to start as any.   Should we head over to your house to do
it?”
    I considered it, but what if Jake came in while we were still
working?   I’d promised to share my
thoughts with him, but I suddenly realized that I wasn’t anywhere close to
being ready for that yet.   “Can we
do it at your place instead?”
    “Of course we can,” Grace said.   “Do you need a lift?”
    “Thanks, but I drove over here, so my Jeep’s outside,” I said.
    “Then I’ll meet you at home—my home, that is.”
    I tried to tell Jake where I was going, but he’d pulled Vince over to one
side and was having a solemn talk with him, so I knew better than to interrupt him.  
    After Grace and I nodded to Officer Grant, he told her, “Sorry about all
of this.   May I call you later?”
    “Hey, duty called.   I
understand.   Sure, touch base whenever
you get a chance.”
    “How’s that going?” I asked Grace as we left him and started outside
together.
    “Good, but we’re still taking things slowly.”
    “There’s nothing wrong with that,” I said.
    “Said the woman who’s been dating a grown man forever without committing
one way or the other,” Grace replied with a smile.
    “What can I say?   It’s
complicated.”
    “It always is, isn’t it?” she asked.   “What about that trip to Paris you were going to take together?”
    “We still want to go, but Jake hasn’t been able to get the time off,” I
said.
    “Well, now that he’s quit, that’s not going to be a problem anymore, is
it?”
    I suddenly realized that Grace was right.   “After Chester’s killer is found, we’re
going.   End of discussion.”
    Our conversation ended as we went outside and joined the milling
crowd.   Most of the folks