Cappuccinos, Cupcakes, and a Corpse (A Cape Bay Cafe Mystery Book 1) Read Online Free

That sounded reasonable. Still, Mike’s tone made me a little anxious, as if he wasn’t quite telling me the whole truth.
    “Helps the family rest a little easier too,” he said.
    The family! I remembered Matty. Poor Matty! His mother had died when we were kids, and now his dad was gone too. He’d be all alone in the world. Like me . I brushed the thought away. This wasn’t about me, and I’d already had my breakdown for the day.
    “Do you know if anyone’s called Matty?” I asked.
    “No, they haven’t,” he replied quickly. “Not unless one of the neighbors has seen my car out front and called him. Which is actually pretty likely.”
    It was. In a neighborhood where everybody watches out for everybody else, something like a police car parked out front was unusual enough to raise interest.
    “Should I call him?” I reached for my phone that I’d shoved in my pocket. “I’m not sure if I have his number. Do you have it?”
    Mike held out a hand. “No, no. I’ll call him in a bit. Just want to finish getting some things down.” He looked at his notepad. “When you left for work this morning, did you take the shortcut or go another way?”
    I sighed. All his questions about my day were a little frustrating. “I took the main road. Out the front, down York Street, and out onto Main.”
    “What time was that?”
    “About seven.”
    “And did you see Mr. Cardosi?”
    I sighed again. All I wanted to do was get out of there. “This morning? No, I didn’t.”
    “When was the last time you saw him?”
    “A couple days ago. Maybe more. He was out getting the paper when I was on my way to work.”
    “And you haven’t been around the back since that time?”
    “You don’t think he’s been dead that long, do you?” I exclaimed.
    Mike smiled his vaguely patronizing smile again. “Just asking questions.”
    “A lot of them!”
    He chuckled. “Just doing my job. Now, have you been around the back since then?”
    “No, no, I haven’t.”
    “Have you seen Matt since then?”
    “Matty? No, I haven’t seen him since the funeral.”
    Mike looked at me sympathetically then back at his notebook. He seemed to be reading over what he had written. “I think that’s about it.” He flipped it closed then flipped it back open almost immediately. “Almost forgot—what’s your cell phone number? That’d be the best way to reach you, right?”
    “My cell or the café,” I said before rattling off both numbers.
    He jotted them down and flipped the notebook closed again, then he slid it back into his breast pocket. “Thanks for your help, Francesca.” He looked toward the street. “Ambulance is sure taking its time, isn’t it?”
    It did seem as if it had been forever since I’d called. Just then, we saw the ambulance coming down the street, and at the same time, from the other direction, a car pulled up to the curb. The driver hesitated a moment then opened the door. Flying toward us with a panicked look on his face was Matty Cardosi.

Chapter 3
    “ M atty !” I shouted, stepping toward him.
    He didn’t even hesitate, just kept running toward where we were standing at the back of the house.
    Mike, in full cop mode, walked forward to intercept him. “Matt!” He caught Matty as he tried to run by and held him in place.
    “What’s going on? Where’s my dad? Let me go! Tell me what’s going on!” Matty fought against Mike’s grip, but Mike held on.
    “Matt, Matt, you gotta calm down, man,” Mike said as he struggled to keep Matty from running past him.
    Matty made a few more attempts to escape before he gave up. “Okay, okay.” He raised his hands in surrender, and Mike let him go slowly. Matty ran a hand through his hair. “What’s going on? Where’s my dad?”
    I didn’t know whether to reach out and comfort Matty from the pain I knew was coming or keep my distance. I ended up stepping closer so that I was barely an arm’s length away, close enough to reach out and touch him but far