Cupcakes and Murder: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery (Book 5) (Frosted Love Mysteries) Read Online Free Page B

collar of the robe tightly around her throat.
    “I
am Detective Roberto Gonzales from the Cozumel Police Department. I’d like to
ask you a few questions,” the man who had spoken explained with a heavy accent.
    Having
heard the commotion when the officers were knocking on Missy’s door, Chas flung
open the door of his room and strode across the hall. “Excuse me, just what
exactly is going on here?” he demanded of the men in suits.
    Detective
Gonzales measured him with a look. “And who are you?” he asked, eyes narrowed.
    Chas
responded strongly in Spanish. Missy had no idea what he said, but whatever it
was caused Gonzales to look at him, then her, and back to him again. He
responded to Beckett, causing the detective to exclaim in a manner that seemed
to encompass surprise, anger and disbelief. Feeling entirely superfluous since
she couldn’t participate in the conversation, Missy turned to go back into her
room and the other man in a suit grabbed her arm, stopping her and speaking to
her in Spanish. Chas intervened, his hand locking on the man’s wrist. Gonzales
barked an order that was unintelligible to Missy, but caused the other man to
release his grip, shaking Chas’s hand off rudely in the process.
    “You
can’t go anywhere at the moment, Missy,” Chas said gently. “The detective needs
to talk with you for a bit.”
    “About
what?” Missy felt the beginnings of alarm rising within her.
    Chas
sighed. “Your tour guide, Raoul was found dead on the beach this morning.
Witnesses said that his body was draped over the lounger that you were sitting
in when you had your altercation yesterday.”
    Missy’s
hands flew to her throat in horror. “Oh my, that’s horrible! I just saw him
yesterday, I can’t believe he’s dead,” she exclaimed, wide-eyed. “But why do
they want to talk to me? I don’t even know his last name.”
    Beckett
paused, looking into her eyes and wishing he didn’t have to say what he needed
to say. “They think you did it, Missy. There were quite a few witnesses to your
fight on the beach yesterday, including staff members.”
    “But…there’s
no way…I was angry, true, but I would certainly never kill anyone,” her eyes
filled with tears.
    “I
know,” he nodded, trying to reassure her. “Just tell the detective everything
that you know, and answer all of their questions. It’s going to be okay.”
    Missy
nodded numbly. “Can I get dressed first?” she asked.
    Chas
said something to Gonzales, who sighed audibly, then gave his begrudging
assent. Missy didn’t need to speak the language to figure that one out and said
thank you, disappearing into her room before the detective changed his mind.
    The
detectives took Missy to the nearest police station and questioned the
frightened American at length, seemingly not satisfied with her answers. She
answered everything truthfully, frustrated when Gonzales would ask the same
question several different ways, even though the answer was always the same.
They didn’t allow Chas to be present during questioning, and it was sometimes
difficult for Missy to understand what her interrogators were saying, but she
managed to communicate nonetheless, and finally, after several hours, she was
allowed to go back to her room.  She noticed that the portion of the beach
where she had been the day before was marked with crime scene tape, and
shuddered at the thought that earlier, Raoul’s body had been found at that very
spot. All she wanted to do now was go home, but Detective Gonzales had been
very direct in letting her know that if she tried to leave Mexico before the
case was solved, she’d be arrested and jailed.
    “Chas,
what am I going to do now?” she worried, pushing food around on her plate at
lunch.
    “I’ve
dropped out of the conference, and from now on, I’ll be working on finding out
who killed Raoul so that we can clear your name and get you home,” he said,
reaching across the table to give her hand a reassuring