in Westhedge with his children’s book illustrator wife. They’d have to check them out, but they seemed to pose little risk in the way of stealing money.
The final two members—Kevin Markus and Jordan Nash—were both lifetime residents of Westhedge—a bus driver and a business owner. Grace would have to ask Sydney if she knew them from the three years she’d lived there with Aaron.
“Sorry Sydney, Aiden just wouldn’t fall asleep!” Mia complained when she came outside.
“Don’t worry about it. That just meant I got more quality time with Ariel.”
“Why don’t you come inside and we can talk about tonight,” Mia suggested. “Ariel, do you want to do fingerpaints in the play room?” Sydney suspected this would be a special activity for her and would keep her occupied to prevent overhearing anything she might question later.
Ariel nearly ran straight into the glass sliding door on her way back inside, her excitement all consuming.
“Lunch?” Mia asked.
“That’d be great. Whatever you have.”
“So, what do you want me to look for tonight?” Mia asked, setting peanut butter, jelly and bread out onto the counter.
“Anything suspicious. I think it will be more about listening to people,” Sydney started.
“What do you think of as suspicious?” Mia asked.
“If anyone is too adamant that I’m the killer. We all know I didn’t do it, so see who is blaming me.”
“Or anyone who is grieving just a little too much, but maybe didn’t know Aaron well,” Grace added.
“Or anyone who knows too much about the hotel room details—that there were two pumpkin pies, that they came from my bakery, that my fingerprints were found in the room.”
“Those details haven’t been made public,” Grace explained when Mia looked confused.
“So I should be schmoozing?” Mia asked.
“Definitely. And keep all your conversations light, don’t let anyone know that you’re digging for clues or suspects. Oh, that reminds me. We have a list of suspects for you to look out for too.” Sydney wrote down the names of the customers they were hoping to question. “We don’t know any of them, and we don’t even know if they’ll be there. But they all ordered pies from us right before the murder.”
“And I was able to find the six members of the Library Commission. Keep your eyes open for them too.” Grace added six more names to the list. “We’ll try to find out as much as we can about each of them before tonight and we’ll let you know if there’s anyone you can skip.”
“Nine people to check out. People are going to be suspicious of me! ”
“Hm, they might be,” Sydney agreed. “We hadn’t thought that far ahead. Just, be careful. How about we stay in Westhedge and you can call us if there’s anything you overhear that you think we should check out. And we’ll be able to Google anything too. Maybe I should try to get into Detective Massey’s good graces beforehand so I can give him a call to get even more information if needed.”
“You’ve fallen out of his good graces?” Mia asked.
“Well, I was brought in for questioning yesterday and they’ve closed down Sinful Sweets to test for poison in our ingredients. I didn’t have much for patience when he was telling me we wouldn’t be able to work this morning. I got short with him. But I have to go back and check my email before we go to Westhedge—we should probably get going, Grace!” Sydney looked at her watch and was surprised it was already after one.
“Thanks for lunch,” Grace said.
“Thanks for giving me a list of suspects,” Mia said sarcastically.
“We’ll be in Westhedge all afternoon, so if we hear anything, we’ll let you know. Thanks for doing this!”
Sydney and Grace brought Maple back to Sydney’s house and picked up her car before stopping at Sinful Sweets. Sydney rarely left her home alone, but
The final two members—Kevin Markus and Jordan Nash—were both lifetime residents of Westhedge—a bus driver and a business owner. Grace would have to ask Sydney if she knew them from the three years she’d lived there with Aaron.
“Sorry Sydney, Aiden just wouldn’t fall asleep!” Mia complained when she came outside.
“Don’t worry about it. That just meant I got more quality time with Ariel.”
“Why don’t you come inside and we can talk about tonight,” Mia suggested. “Ariel, do you want to do fingerpaints in the play room?” Sydney suspected this would be a special activity for her and would keep her occupied to prevent overhearing anything she might question later.
Ariel nearly ran straight into the glass sliding door on her way back inside, her excitement all consuming.
“Lunch?” Mia asked.
“That’d be great. Whatever you have.”
“So, what do you want me to look for tonight?” Mia asked, setting peanut butter, jelly and bread out onto the counter.
“Anything suspicious. I think it will be more about listening to people,” Sydney started.
“What do you think of as suspicious?” Mia asked.
“If anyone is too adamant that I’m the killer. We all know I didn’t do it, so see who is blaming me.”
“Or anyone who is grieving just a little too much, but maybe didn’t know Aaron well,” Grace added.
“Or anyone who knows too much about the hotel room details—that there were two pumpkin pies, that they came from my bakery, that my fingerprints were found in the room.”
“Those details haven’t been made public,” Grace explained when Mia looked confused.
“So I should be schmoozing?” Mia asked.
“Definitely. And keep all your conversations light, don’t let anyone know that you’re digging for clues or suspects. Oh, that reminds me. We have a list of suspects for you to look out for too.” Sydney wrote down the names of the customers they were hoping to question. “We don’t know any of them, and we don’t even know if they’ll be there. But they all ordered pies from us right before the murder.”
“And I was able to find the six members of the Library Commission. Keep your eyes open for them too.” Grace added six more names to the list. “We’ll try to find out as much as we can about each of them before tonight and we’ll let you know if there’s anyone you can skip.”
“Nine people to check out. People are going to be suspicious of me! ”
“Hm, they might be,” Sydney agreed. “We hadn’t thought that far ahead. Just, be careful. How about we stay in Westhedge and you can call us if there’s anything you overhear that you think we should check out. And we’ll be able to Google anything too. Maybe I should try to get into Detective Massey’s good graces beforehand so I can give him a call to get even more information if needed.”
“You’ve fallen out of his good graces?” Mia asked.
“Well, I was brought in for questioning yesterday and they’ve closed down Sinful Sweets to test for poison in our ingredients. I didn’t have much for patience when he was telling me we wouldn’t be able to work this morning. I got short with him. But I have to go back and check my email before we go to Westhedge—we should probably get going, Grace!” Sydney looked at her watch and was surprised it was already after one.
“Thanks for lunch,” Grace said.
“Thanks for giving me a list of suspects,” Mia said sarcastically.
“We’ll be in Westhedge all afternoon, so if we hear anything, we’ll let you know. Thanks for doing this!”
Sydney and Grace brought Maple back to Sydney’s house and picked up her car before stopping at Sinful Sweets. Sydney rarely left her home alone, but
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