Read Creamed at the Coffee Cabana: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Home Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) for Free Online Page A

herself and wasn’t about to compete with me.”
     
    Wow, Essie just got another hit! Dang, that Toe had the women lined up from here to Disney World. Seems being a lifelong bachelor is a turn on for the old girls!
     
    “She shoved me back and that must have been when she grabbed the button on my jacket. I was too upset to notice and ran out the back door.”
     
    “So that’s the last time you saw her alive?” I asked.
     
    “Yes,” Mildred answered tears spilling down her cheeks. “I was mad at her, but I could never harm anyone.”
     
    I could tell by the look on Essie’s face that we agreed. We didn’t think Mildred killed Fannie.
     
    I handed Mildred a tissue. “Did you happen to see anyone in the alley when you left?”
     
    Mildred thought for a second. “Actually, I do remember seeing Mr. Barton at the corner of the building. At the time I thought it odd that he was there, but I promptly put it out of my mind because I was so upset.”
     
    Essie patted her on the shoulder. “Come on; let’s get you a cup of hot tea.”
     
    “Could I have my button back?”
     
    Essie looked at me. “Sure, here it is.”
     
    That probably wasn’t the right thing to do, but I couldn’t say no to her. She seemed way too distressed. But now we had the conundrum of Mildred spotting Mike near the murder scene.
     
    We walked back up front and Essie poured Mildred one of our new offerings. Cinnamon apple tea. She sat at the counter and sipped. It seemed to calm her down.
     
    Jules pulled me aside. “So what did you find out?”
     
    “She was here with Fannie,” I whispered. “They got into a fight in the back of the store over something in that special edition paper. The fight got physical and evidently the button popped off Mildred’s jacket and then lodged between the stove and cabinet. But she says she didn’t hit her with the skillet and I tend to believe her.”
     
    Jules looked over at Mildred who was blowing her nose. “I agree. I don’t think she has a mean bone in her body.”
     
    “But she said she saw Mike in the alley when she left. And Essie said that during the parade Mike left to go make a phone call.”
     
    “Did Mildred say he was on the phone when she saw him?”
     
    “No…she said he was just standing there. She thought it odd, but she was too upset to give it much thought.”
     
    Jules twirled a strand of her long black hair. “Hmmm…I wonder if Mike saw anyone.”
     
    “What about Mike himself?”
     
    Jules made a face. “I would hate to think Mike would murder anyone, even Fannie.”
     
    “Oh that’s right, you weren’t here.”
     
    “What do you mean?”
     
    “A few days before the festival Mike and Fannie got into a heated argument right here in the shop.”
     
    “What about?”
     
    “Fannie’s stupid rag of a newspaper of course. She alluded to Mike killing plants and shrubs on client’s property to make more money.”
     
    Jules shook her head. “I hate to talk ill of the dead, but the nerve of that woman. She really delighted in causing misery. I guess that does give Mike a motive.”
     
    “She threw Toe under the bus in the same paper, but you know him. He lets that stuff slide right down his back.”
     
    “Yeah, Toe’s too laid back. But it doesn’t sound like Mike’s the same way.”
     
    I felt sad thinking it might be Mike. “No he doesn’t.”
     
    The front door opened. Hildie and Toe were back. “Harvey needed to get home and feed Miss Pickles.”
     
    Miss Pickles was his cat. She was a stray that ended up on his doorstep a few months after his wife passed. She was black with four white paws. The tip of her tail was also white. Miss Pickles loved men, sashaying around their legs and using her paw to gently get their attention. Not so with the women though. She’d hiss and even claw at them if they came near her or Harvey. Essie swore she was the reincarnation of his dead wife.
     
    “Well we wouldn’t want Miss Pickles to starve,