Death by Chocolate Sundae: A Cozy Mystery (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book 2) Read Online Free Page B

was weird.”
     
    “So did you recognize anyone else?” I asked as I poured more wine into my glass.
     
    “There were some people I recognized around town, but don’t know their names. A few kids on their bikes stopped as well. Oh, and this man. He kind of stood out because he was tall and had on nice clothes. He didn’t seem to fit in with the rest of the group.”
     
    “You didn’t recognize him?” Paige asked her daughter.
     
    “No, I’d never seen him around town.”
     
    “You sure it wasn’t Mr. Parker?”
     
    “Paige!” I blurted out. “Surely you don’t think Mr. and Mrs. Parker had anything to do with this.”
     
    “I don’t like entertaining the thought, but they had the most to gain,” Paige said as she took a sip from her wine glass.
     
    “Not necessarily,” Stormi announced. “I heard Mr. Jenkins had an only son who was to inherit everything. You know he had a big settlement from Landry’s department store the hotshot lawyer from Atlanta got him. Well, turns out his son kept asking Mr. J. for a loan, but Mr. Jenkins, being the sweetheart that he is…ummm was, told him to take a flying leap.”
     
    “Why wouldn’t he help his son out?” I asked. “If he had so much money he could have simply given it to him.”
     
    “This is Mr. Jenkins we’re talking about Tara,” Stormi maintained. “He was tighter than a camel’s butt in a sand storm.”
     
    Barmph! “You almost choked me!” Paige coughed.
     
    “It’s the truth,” Stormi continued. “From what I gathered, his son was a pretty good guy who lost his job when the company laid off and he needed some money to pay his bills until he could find another. The son wasn’t asking his father to just give him the money; he was going to pay interest on it. But even that wasn’t good enough for all Mr. Stingy. I guess they had a loud argument in Mr. Jenkin’s yard that a few of the neighbors witnessed. Mr. Jenkins told him to never come back and his son said not to worry he wouldn’t. Then Mr. J. said he was taking him out of his will as soon as possible.”
     
    “When was that?” Paige asked.
     
    “Three days ago,” Stormi answered.
     
    “Yikes,” I responded. “That does give him a clear motive.”
     
    “Not sure how he’d get the cyanide though if he was broke,” Stormi pondered. “Of course I don’t know the going price for cyanide these days either.”
     
    “Didn’t he work for a company in Atlanta that produces insecticides?” Paige asked. “For some reason that sounds familiar.”
     
    “Ohhh, that’s right he did!” Stormi blurted. “Oh crap, isn’t cyanide in insecticides?”
     
    “Yeah, in some of them I think,” Paige responded.
     
    “Is there anyone else who wouldn’t mind seeing Mr. Jenkins dead?” I asked as I poured the last dribble of wine into my glass.
     
    “You mean besides half the town?” Stormi joked.
     
    “He’s going to haunt you, you know,” Paige stated.
     
    “He already is,” Stormi stated. “I still have visions of the CPR comedy routine.”
     
    “Oh Lord, don’t remind me,” I pleaded.
     
    The next hour we talked about more pleasant items of interest including Sam’s latest beau. Sam was a pretty girl, but she also had her head on straight. She wasn’t going to be sidelined by a handsome face, although she was allowed to date once she had turned 15.
     
    “The head of the basketball team asked her out and she turned him down,” Paige announced.
     
    “Mother!” Sam admonished. “A girl can’t have any secrets around here.”
     
    “That’s right sister,” Stormi chirped. “So spill it. Was he too tall, gangly, too many pimples?”
     
    “Stormi! You’re as bad as my Mom.”
     
    “It’s our generation sweets,” Stormi replied. “We’ve been cursed with a tongue that runs on its on volition.”
     
    “Whatever,” Sam said rolling her eyes good-naturedly. “I wasn’t interested in him, besides he had a bad reputation. Actually