A Zest for Murder (Sky High Pies Cozy Mysteries Book 5) Read Online Free

all, sis. I just find it
amusing that buying a bathing suit is your idea of an emergency.”
    “Well, it is! Cooper won a trip to San
Diego in some raffle at work. We’re going in two weeks and I have to figure
out which suit will look better.”
    “Which one do you like?”
    She hemmed and hawed. Then she
announced that she couldn’t decide.
    “Well, I can’t help you with that,”
I said. “I have about thirty seconds before I have to hang up. I’m delivering
an order to Tipper Hedge, and she—”
    “Oh, really?” Olivia said. “I
haven’t heard that name in ages. How is she?”
    I glanced at the dashboard clock.
“She’s going to be really mad if I don’t get there on time. Can I call you
later?”
    “Sure,” my sister said. “But, real
fast before you go: body-sculpting one-piece or sexy bikini?”
    “Yes!” I answered. “Buy them both so
you have options! I’ve gotta go, Liv. I love you!”
    I dropped the phone back into my
purse, checked traffic and then pulled away from the curb. It took less than a
minute to reach Tipper’s house. When I came around a bend in the road, her
black BMW was in the driveway.
    “Okay, Miss Capricious Whimsy,” I
murmured to myself, using the childhood nickname Tipper had received from her
mother. “Are you going to start second-guessing what you ordered or graciously
accept this delivery?”
    Hoping for the latter, I parked in
front of the house, carried the Sky High boxes to the porch and rang the bell
with one elbow. As I waited for Tipper, I heard someone crunching up behind me
across the snow-covered lawn.
    I turned to see a lanky guy dressed
in a snowmobile suit walking a small dog with fluffy white fur. His eyes were
covered by a pair of mirrored aviator shades and a bulky knit cap was pulled
down low on his forehead. There was something green wedged in the corner of his
mouth. I guessed it was an hors d’oeuvre toothpick with frilled cellophane on
one end. I didn’t recognize the man, but thought he might be Tipper’s neighbor
if he was walking a dog so casually down the street.
    “Hey, there!” he called in a deep
voice.
    I smiled a silent greeting,
carefully cradling the Sky High boxes against my body.
    “She’s not home,” the man said,
coming closer with the energetic pooch. “My wife stopped by about ten minutes
ago to return a book she’d borrowed. We live just over there.” He removed the
toothpick and gestured at a yellow bungalow across the street. “Missy came by,
like, right before you got here, but there was no answer.”
    The dog yelped. As I turned to coo
something reassuring, I saw its collar: a bright pink faux crocodile number
decorated with glittering crystals.
    “Okay, thanks,” I said. “Any chance
you know what time she left?”
    “My wife?”
    I shook my head. “No, sorry. I
meant Tipper. I just thought maybe…” I looked down at the fluffy dog. “…you
know? If you were out walking the dog, then maybe you saw Tip leave with someone.
I mean, since her car’s in the driveway and all.”
    The man grinned, returning the
toothpick to his mouth. “Nah. Me and Stella just got out here. It’s my day off,
so I decided to take her for a long walk.”
    The dog strained against its leash,
trying to get as close as possible to the baked goodies.
    “Ah!” The man pointed at the Sky
High sticker on the top box. “That’s your place, isn’t it?”
    “Guilty as charged,” I said.
“Tipper ordered these for a meeting she’s having tomorrow morning.”
    The toothpick twitched as he
frowned slightly. “Like I told you, she’s not home.”
    His tone had shifted from cordial
and pleasant to borderline crabby, but I guessed he might be the kind of guy
who got peeved if he had to repeat something.
    “Thanks for telling me!” I said as
Stella jabbed her wet nose against my ankle. “Looks like somebody else wants to
indulge their sweet tooth.”
    The man shrugged. “No doubt! She’s
a Hoover when it comes to people food,