Read Maple Frosted Murder (Donut Hole 2) for Free Online Page A

realized that Maricela was standing at
her elbow.  “The customer asked for you specifically,” Maricela said.
    “Okay,”
Heather said, then glanced toward Angelica and Jung.  “They’re thickening the
syrup.”
     
    Maricela
nodded and traded places with Heather, who was then free to approach the front
counter.  “I’m Heather,” she said.  “How may I help you?”
     
    “My 
name is Jackie Fielder,” the woman said.  “I’m—”
     
    “—a
reporter for the Hillside Herald,” Heather finished for her.  “I know who you
are.  So what can I do for you?”
     
    “I
was wondering if I could ask you a few questions,” Jackie said.
     
    “About?”
     
    “About
Stan Dombrowski.”
     
    “How
is whatever I say going to be used?” Heather asked.  “Is it going to wind up in
print?”
     
    “Maybe.” 
Jackie smiled pleasantly.  “It could mean good publicity for your store.”
     
    “What
do you want to know?” Heather asked dubiously.
     
    “Rumor
has it that you and Stan didn’t get along.”
     
    “No
comment.”
     
    “Really? 
No comment?”
     
    “Really.”
    “Rumor
also has it that the police consider you a suspect in his death.”
     
    “Who
told you that?” Heather demanded.
     
    “A
source.  Don’t you want to at least listen to my questions?  Maybe answer a
few?”
     
    “No,
actually, I don’t want to answer any of your questions.  No comment.” 
     
    “Don’t
you want to show the public you have nothing to hide?”
     
    “I
think it’s time for you to go,” Heather said.  “Unless you’re a customer, you
have no further business here.”
     
    Jackie
stepped back from the counter.  “Actually, I used to patronize Stan’s donut
shop,” she said.  She offered Heather a shark-like smile.  “Have a nice day.”
     
    Heather
watched the reporter leave the shop, and only then did she realize her mouth
was hanging open.  She closed it and forced herself to draw a slow, deep breath
in through her nose and then to breathe out the same way.
     
    “What
was that all about?” Jung asked, stepping up beside her.
     
    “Looking
for a story where there isn’t one,” Heather said.  “Now let’s get back to
making those donuts.”
     
    ***
     
    Two
hours later, she was leaning back in a leather recliner, soaking her feet in a
basin of warm water.  In the recliner next to her sat Amy, who eased her feet
into her own tub and let out a contented sigh.
    “Water
good?” the diminutive Asian woman asked.
     
    “Water
very good,” Amy said.
     
    “I
let you soak,” the pedicurist said.  “I come back when you done.”
     
    When
the woman had walked away and Amy and Heather were alone, Amy turned her head
toward her friend.  “So have you figured out whodunit yet?”
     
    “Not
even,” Heather answered.  “Everywhere I turn, new suspects are popping up. 
Like today, when I stopped to pick up my dry cleaning?  I ran into Sheila
Dombrowski.”
     
    “She
was picking up cleaning too?”
     
    “Well,
no, actually, she was just coming from her lawyer’s office across the street.”
     
    “And
you just happened to accidentally cross the street and run into her?”
     
    “Something
like that.  Anyway, apparently Stan had accused her of cheating on him.”
    “Was
she cheating?”
     
    “She
said she wasn’t,” Heather said.
     
    Amy
snorted.  “That’s what they all say.”
     
    “She
also mentioned that Stan had accused Gary Larkin of kicking him off the Chamber
of Commerce board just because he was power hungry.”
    “As
if Stan could be a threat to him.”
     
    “I
know.  But still, Gary could have gotten angry.”
     
    “You
think he killed Stan because he was angry that Stan accused him of being power
hungry?”
     
    “Shh!”
Heather warned.  “No, probably not.  I’m just saying that everywhere I turn,
somebody else is cropping up as a suspect.”
     
    “So
who do you think did it?”
     
    “I
don’t know.  I mean, I know