A Cookie Before Dying Read Online Free Page A

yourself. The less I know about her, the happier I’ll be.”
    “I’ll grant she can be irritating, but why do you dislike her so much?”
    Maddie scooped up some papers, balled them together, and smashed them into the full trash can. “Because Charlene is skinny and blonde and her hair always behaves no matter what the humidity.”
    With a puzzled frown, Olivia said, “But you are curvy and have red hair with personality. What’s the problem?”
    Maddie kicked at one of the few remaining wads of paper. “I guess it’s what Heather Irwin said to me last week. I stopped in at the library to talk about the cookies for Gwen and Herbie’s baby shower—did you know that Heather is organizing it? Anyway, Heather dragged me into her office to talk about some things Charlene had said while she was checking out a few books. She doesn’t like Charlene any better than I do, maybe even less.”
    “Charlene reads library books?” Olivia’s question came out sarcastic, and Maddie grinned. In fact, Olivia was wondering why Charlene, with her vast and expensive wardrobe, didn’t buy her own books.
    “Good question,” Maddie said. “Heather said they were mostly romances and some bogus reference book about poisons in the foods we eat. Anyway, if I may continue, Heather told me that Charlene asked a bunch of personal questions about Lucas and me. Like, are we really, really a couple? Why hasn’t Lucas ever married? He’s so attractive, is he afraid of commitment? And aren’t I running out of time to have kids? Not that I’m insecure.”
    “Not since the seventh grade,” Olivia said. “Charlene, on the other hand, screams insecurity.”
    Maddie brightened. “You always know the right thing to say. Anyway, it might be fun to watch her try to flirt with Lucas. He doesn’t know what the word means. Lord knows I wasted years getting nowhere with him, until I gave up and started treating him like the guy next door. Which he is. That’s when he finally noticed me.”
    “That plus the scent of your baking as it drifted over to his hardware store. Never underestimate the power of decorated cookies.” Olivia didn’t add that once Lucas became interested in her, Maddie reverted, for a time, to middle-school-crush mode. That period was best forgotten.
    With a sideways leap, Maddie disposed of the final paper ball. “Enough about Charlene. There is cookie dough in the fridge, and it’s calling out to me.”
    Between them, they hauled the trash can back to its space in the alley behind The Gingerbread House. “Let’s go in the front,” Olivia said. “I left poor Spunky locked in the foyer.”
    They rounded the corner and found Sheriff Del standing at the door, frowning as he listened to Spunky’s frantic barking. He relaxed when he saw them. “I was getting worried,” Del said. “I wondered if you’d gotten knocked on your heads when you returned from The Vegetable Plate.”
    Olivia grinned. “Do you suspect crime behind every door?”
    “Occupational hazard. Especially when you’re around.”
    “Ouch.”
    “I see you got the lawn back to normal,” Del said. “By the way, Charlene steadfastly denies any responsibility for those flyers. She insists you two set the whole thing up, including the break-in, so you could scare her off.”
    Maddie snorted. “Frankly, she isn’t worth the trouble.”
    Olivia unlocked the front door, triggering an explosion of vicious barking from inside.
    “Hush, Spunky, it’s me. Want some coffee, Del? We were about to reward our clean-up work with a flurry of cookie construction. Besides, I have a few questions to ask you.”
    “I knew there’d be a catch,” Del said. “Thanks, but I need to get back to the station. I only stopped by to let you know we have a suspect for the break-in. We need to check his alibi, then we’ll be in touch about your identification.”
    “But I only saw his—”
    “You saw his back as he ran off, I know, but it’s worth a try. I’m