Stake & Eggs Read Online Free Page A

his cell phone and stared
     at Suzanne. “You guys got any leftover sweet rolls or donuts? I ain’t had dinner yet
     and it’s gonna be a long night.”
    “Out in the café,” said Suzanne.
    Doogie nodded as he punched in numbers. “Got a couple of calls to make. You ladies
     give me a little privacy, then I’ll be out in a jiffy.”
    *  *  *
    D OOGIE sat at the counter munching a donut while the three women clustered around him.
    “You called for an ambulance?” Suzanne asked.
    Doogie brushed a spray of colored sprinkles from the front of his shirt. “And the
     coroner. No big hurry, though.” He drained his coffee cup noisily, then said, “Got
     any more? Hot?”
    Petra grabbed a pot from the burner. “It’s mostly dregs.”
    “Works for me,” said Doogie.
    “I can make fresh,” said Petra. “We might be here awhile.”
    “You want another donut, too?” Suzanne asked.
    “Bring it on,” said Doogie.
    Suzanne placed a glazed jelly donut on a clean plate and slid it across the counter
     to Doogie. He reached out with a chubby finger and towed it toward him. “Thanks,”
     he said. He took a bite, swallowed, seemed to be ruminating about something, and then
     said, “You say Busacker was coming out here for a meeting?”
    Suzanne nodded. “To talk about the Fire and Ice finale. We’re hosting the big party
     this year.”
    “Did you see or hear anybody out back?” Doogie asked. He pulled a pencil and small
     spiral notebook out of his shirt pocket.
    “Maybe,” Suzanne said slowly. “Maybe there might have been two snowmobiles.”
    “She’s right,” said Petra. “We heard one buzzing around a few minutes before the other
     one crashed.”
    “So you heard two different machines?” asked Doogie. He was taking notes now.
    “I guess so,” said Suzanne. “No, I’m pretty sure we did.” She thought about the implication
     of that, then asked, “Does that mean somebody else was sneaking around out back, stretching
     that wire?”
    “The killer was scoping us out?” said Petra. She looked deeply unsettled.
    “Whoever stretched that wire had to know Ben was coming here,” said Doogie. “For your
     meeting.”
    “Who would know that?” asked Toni.
    Suzanne thought for a minute. “Everybody. It was written up in the
Bugle
.”
    Doogie stopped jotting notes and looked up. “Huh?”
    “Courtesy of Gene Gandle,” said Suzanne, “our intrepid local reporter. When it comes
     to meetings and civic activities, he writes down every little nit and nat and sticks
     it in the newspaper.” Gene Gandle wore several hats at the
Bugle
. He covered hard news, crop reports, high school basketball, hog prices, and sold
     advertising space. Not necessarily in that order.
    “Conscientious son of a gun, ain’t he?” said Doogie.
    “I think Gene’s still hoping to win a Pulitzer,” said Suzanne.
    “That’s gonna be a cold day in—” Toni began.
    “Kindred,” finished Petra.
    “The thing is,” said Suzanne, “Ben was coming along a trail that lots of folks use.
     They come hot-dogging along Highway Sixty-Five on the shoulder. Then, when the ditch
     starts to get too steep, they cut behind the Journey’s End Church and zip through
     my woods.”
    “So everybody knows about the path…the trail,” said Doogie. He scratched his nose
     with the eraser end of his pencil.
    “Most snowmobilers do, anyway,” said Suzanne. “Especially if they’re coming here.”
    “Can’t you just question all the people who own snowmobiles?” asked Toni. “Seems like
     that would be a likely place to start.”
    Doogie let loose a sharp bark. “Hah! That would be half the people in Logan County.”
    Petra sighed. “All those people making a racket. It’s practically criminal.”
    *  *  *
    F IFTEEN minutes later, there was a new racket at the front door. And, seconds later, Dr.
     Sam Hazelet came rushing in.
    Surprise bloomed on Suzanne’s face as she jumped up from her stool at the counter.