The Fatal Funnel Cake Read Online Free

kidding, I’d like to hear more about that murder stuff,” Peggy went on. “I never knew anybody who caught killers before.”
    â€œI don’t actually catch them . . . ,” Phyllis said, although there had been a few times Sam had physically corralled one of the criminals whose schemes Phyllis had uncovered.
    Carolyn said, “It’s not nearly as exciting as it sounds. She just talks to people and thinks about what they tell her. It’s just a matter of paying attention, the way we always told our students. Isn’t that right, Phyllis?”
    There was a little more to it than that, Phyllis thought, but she didn’t really want to have this conversation and she certainly didn’t want to sound like she was bragging about her abilities as a detective. So she said, “That’s pretty much what it amounts to, all right.”
    â€œYou must be one of those gals people open up to,” Peggy said. “I never was like that myself. Folks seem to clam up around me. Darned if I know why.”
    â€œWe’ve been trying not to talk about the whole crime-solving business around Eve,” Carolyn said. “She suffered quite a loss last winter and we don’t want to remind her of it.”
    â€œMum’s the word when she’s around—got it. Say, what about that tall drink of water Sam? Pretty good-lookin’ for a skinny old man, isn’t he? I’m surprised one of you ladies doesn’t have your hooks in him yet.” Peggy raised her eyebrows. “Or maybe one of you does. Maybe more than one. A man living in a houseful of women like that, he might just consider it his own private harem—”
    â€œPeggy!” Carolyn said. “That’s enough of that kind of talk!” Instantly, she was apologetic. “Of course, it’s your house and you’re being kind enough to let us stay here, and you can say anything you want—”
    â€œTake it easy, Carolyn. I’m not offended. I just wondered what the story was.”
    â€œOh. Well, I suppose you could say that Phyllis and Sam have a sort of understanding.”
    Phyllis would have just as soon that Carolyn hadn’t said that, but she wasn’t going to deny the affection she and Sam felt for each other. She didn’t see anything wrong with downplaying it a little, though.
    â€œWe just enjoy each other’s company,” she said. “It’s nothing serious.”
    â€œWell, there’s two ways of looking at that,” Peggy said. “At our age, who needs serious, right? I mean, we’ve likely had our share of drama in our lives already.”
    â€œExactly.”
    â€œBut on the other hand,” Peggy continued, “none of us are getting any younger, so if there’s still something out there that’s important to us, we’d better not waste any time going after it, you know what I mean?” She took a sip of coffee. “We’re all probably going to need somebody with medical power of attorney sooner rather than later.”
    Carolyn said, “Oh, goodness gracious, I don’t want to think about that.”
    â€œYou better think about it, dearie,” Peggy said. “None of us know how long we’re going to be here, or be in any shape to make important decisions.”
    â€œThe only important decisions
I
have to make are what kind of cookies to enter in those contests.”
    â€œI hope that’s true for you for a long time yet.”
    That sort of put a damper on the conversation for a while. After half an hour or so, Sam wandered into the kitchen while Phyllis and Carolyn were sitting at the table, too, talking about recipes.
    Peggy perked up immediately and said, “Honey, we were just talking about you.”
    â€œThought I felt my ears burnin’,” Sam said with a smile. “Should I say thank you or just deny everything?”
    â€œOh, it was nothing bad. I was just