Murder So Sweet: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery (Frosted Love Mysteries Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

surprise of the day, Missy learned that the man whose body she had seen floating in the swamp had been that of Clara’s beloved husband, Elmer. The grieving widow thought that he had merely gone out to pick up supplies when he wasn’t in bed or at the store early this morning, and was heartbroken when the police came by to give her the bad news. Elmer had been a volunteer crossing guard at Dellville Elementary School for years, so when the coroner ran his fingerprints, they immediately popped up on the database as a registered ‘safe person’ for local children. Missy tried to console the fragile old woman as best she could until her daughter arrived, then trudged back across the street, sick at heart. Chas was wiping his hands on a towel, having just finished installing all of her new security measures, when she walked in, sad and defeated. She numbly told him what she had just learned and he held her while yet another torrent of tears took her by storm.
    Missy’s sleep was restless, she tossed and turned, constantly haunted by nightmares, and nightmarish visions of death and fear. She woke late, to the ringing of her cell phone on the nightstand beside her.
    “Hello?” she answered groggily.
    She was more than surprised to hear her neighbor, Myra Cranston, on the line. “Missy, darlin’ what on earth happened to your poor house?”
    “My…what?” Missy was confused.
    “Sweetheart, I’m standin’ out here in your side yard, you might wanna come out here and see this,” she advised.
    “Oh…okay. I’ll be out in a minute,” she replied, trying to shake the cobwebs from her sleepless night. Throwing on the first pair of gym shorts and t-shirt that she could find, Missy dashed out the front door with Toffee at her heels, to see Myra, standing with her arms crossed, shaking her head slowly while gazing at the side of her house. Jogging over to stand next to her neighbor, Missy turned and saw, much to her dismay, that someone had spray painted the word NEXT in red letters at least three feet high on the butter-yellow siding of her gracious Victorian.
    Myra patted her back. “You better call the police, sugar,” she advised with a frown.
    “Doesn’t look like I’ll have to,” Missy murmured, as a patrol car pulled up in front of her house, lights flashing.
    Two uniformed officers came toward her, and Missy went to meet them.
    “Thank you so much for coming, did one of the neighbors give y’all a call?” she asked.
    “Nice try Ms. Gladstone. Come with me, please.” The officer closest to her reach for her and Missy stepped back.
    “Come with you? Where? And why?” she was completely taken aback.
    “You’re a person of interest in the murder of Elmer Clements. We’re taking you to the station for questioning,” he replied sternly.
    “That’s absolutely ridiculous! I was just about to call the police because someone vandalized my home, and now you’re trying to accuse me of murder? That’s just crazy!” Missy retorted.
    “You have a choice ma’am, you can either come with us voluntarily, or I can place you under arrest for interfering with an official investigation, what’s it going to be?” he stepped toward her, hands on hips.
    “Don’t you threaten me, Officer. I’ll come with y’all, but you need to stop being so rude. I’m a law-abiding citizen and I don’t appreciate being treated like this,” she huffed, heading for the house.
    “Where do you think you’re going ma’am?” the other officer asked.
    “I am going to take my shower and get dressed in appropriate clothing, not that it’s any of your business. Once I’m ready and have had my breakfast, I’ll drive down to the police station and talk with you.”
    “Not the police station, the sheriff’s office, ma’am.”
    That stopped Missy in her tracks. “I don’t even know where the sheriff’s office is.”
    The second officer sighed. “Ma’am, just go do whatever it is that you need to do. We’ll wait here for