Sinister Sprinkles Read Online Free PDF Page B

stuffed, too,” Grace echoed.
    “We’ve got homemade apple pie with a crumb crust topping,” Momma said.
    “Maybe I’ll have just a sliver,” I said.
    Grace nodded. “I think I have room for that much myself.”
    Momma grinned. “Tell you what. Why don’t I do the dishes and you two go enjoy the fire. After I’m finished cleaning up, we’ll have dessert.”
    I said, “No, ma’am. We’re cleaning up. Or at least one of us is. We played Scrabble for the privilege, and we won’t take no for an answer.”
    “Are you sure?” she asked.
    “Positive,” Grace said.
    “If you’re certain,” she said as she started off toward the living room. I knew her favorite part of making meals was the process and the end result, not the cleaning afterwards.
    “I thought you’d put up more of a fight than that,” I said, smiling.
    “Then you thought wrong. Thank you both. Now if you two will excuse me, I believe I’ll go enjoy that fire.”
    After she went into the other room, Grace asked me, “So, who lost? I know you brought the score sheet in with you.”
    “Let me total it up,” I said as I tallied the figures. I added them twice, then laughed out loud.
    “What’s so funny? Did I lose?”
    “Look,” I said as I handed her the sheet. We’d ended in a dead tie on the last game, 234 to 234.
    Grace smiled. “It looks like we’re both cleaning up.”
    “It surely does. Let’s knock these dishes out so we can have some pie.”
    She looked at me in disbelief. “Suzanne, are you honestly telling me that you’re still hungry? I was just kidding before.”
    I shrugged. “I’m not saying I could eat a sandwich, but I probably have room for a little bit of pie after we finish.”
    Grace laughed. “Then let’s get to work. I’d hate to be the one responsible for making you starve to death.”
    The cleanup was a breeze having Grace work with me, and we were just about to cut the pie when my cell phone rang with its signature laugh.
    I thought about ignoring it, and when I didn’t answer immediately, Grace said, “You’d better get it. It might be important.”
    “That’s what I’m afraid of,” I said. “I don’t want to spoil this evening’s light mood.”
    “It’s fine. Besides, it’ll drive us both crazy if you don’t.”
    I shrugged, then pulled my cell phone out and said hello. It was George. “I wasn’t expecting you to find anything out tonight.”
    He said, “I thought you should hear it as soon as possible.”
    “Well, you’ve got my attention. How did Darlene die?”
    “She was stabbed straight through the coat and into the heart.”
    I felt a shiver go through me. “That sounds horrible,” I said. “What a terrible way to die.”
    “I don’t know. I’ve seen worse,” George said.
    “I’m sure you have, but I don’t want to hear about any of your old cases. Thanks for finding out for me.”
    “Hang on a second,” he said as Grace kept pulling out my arm, no doubt wanting to know how Darlene had died. “I’m not finished.”
    “Go ahead. I’m listening.”
    George sighed. “Don’t you want to know what the murder weapon was? Come on, Suzanne, it’s the next logical question, isn’t it?”
    “I suppose so,” I said. “I just assumed it was a knife. Wait just a sec,” I added as I turned to Grace. “Somebody stabbed Darlene in the heart.”
    “Oh,” she said.
    I said to George, “Sorry about that. Now, what were you saying?”
    “I was talking about the murder weapon. Have you seen those candy canes around City Hall?”
    “The ones hanging in the windows? Yes, I saw them. Trish was in charge of decorating, since she was running the carnival.”
    “No, not those. I’m talking about the ones stuck in the ground out front where the flower beds are during summer.”
    “Yes, I saw those, too. Kind of cute, aren’t they?”
    “I used to think so,” George said, “until I heard that one of them was used to stab Darlene in the heart. Now I’m not so