Jessica Beck - Donut Shop 18 - Dangerous Dough by Jessica Beck Page A

as she offered me a folded sheet of paper.
    “Can’t you just
tell me what it says, or do I really need to read it?” I asked with a grin.
    “Sorry,” Emma
said as she tucked the note into the front pocket of her jeans.   “It’s about what happened while you were
gone.”
    “Why don’t you
both come on in and we can talk about it,” I said as I unlocked the front door
and opened it.   It was chilly in the
cottage, but I knew how to fix that.   “Let me light a fire and make us some coffee.”
    “Don’t go to any
trouble on our account.   We won’t be
here that long,” Sharon said.
    “Well, I’m cold,
so I think I’ll do it anyway,” I said as I lit the fire I’d laid in the grate
before Jake and I had left for our honeymoon.   It was amazing to me just how much had
changed in such a short period of time.
    As the kindling
took to the flame, I headed for the kitchen and flipped on the coffeepot.   “That’s going to take a few
minutes.   Now, tell me all about
what happened.   I heard Alex Tyler
asked you out on a date.   You
usually don’t argue with the men you turn down, Emma.”
    “I knew it
wouldn’t take long before everybody in town found out,” my assistant said,
clearly on the verge of tears.
    “Take a deep
breath, sweetie,” Sharon said in that soothing, calm voice that all mothers
seemed to acquire naturally.   “Would
you like me to tell it?”
    “No, thanks.   I can handle it.”   After expelling a deep breath, Emma
continued.   “Alex came by and started
flirting with me.   The shop was
empty, so I guess he thought that was his opportunity.   Boy, was he ever wrong.   I didn’t lead him on, though; I swear it.”
    “I believe you,”
I said as I reached out and patted her hand.   “Go on.”
    “Well, he clearly
wasn’t used to being rejected.   The
more I refused his advances, the more belligerent he became.”
    “And that’s when
I came out front,” Sharon added.   “I
heard Emma raising her voice, so I knew that something was going on.   When I got there, Alex was trying to get
behind the counter to get closer to her.”
    “What did you
do?” I asked.
    “Well, I thought about hitting him with a tray of
donuts,” Sharon said with a wry grin, “but I ended up scolding him instead, and
that seemed to work well enough.   Emma told him again that she wasn’t interested in him, so he finally
left.”
    “I’m curious
about something.   How did everyone
in town find out about what happened if the shop was empty at the time?”
    “Evidently Gabby
Williams was standing just outside the front door when it happened,” Emma said
grimly.   “She must have heard it
all, and after that, it was too late to stop her.”
    “Believe me, I
know what that’s like,” I said.   Though I’d told Grace that Gabby and I were friends, sometimes the woman
had the oddest way of showing it.   “I’ve
got a question for you.   Did he
happen to buy a cup of coffee while he was here?”
    “No, he
didn’t.   Why?”
    “Haven’t you
heard?   He was poisoned, and they
found traces of what killed him in one of our cups from Donut Hearts.”
    “But that’s
impossible,” Emma cried.   “I never
sold him a cup.”
    “Then he must
have gotten it from someone else,” I said with a frown.   “Emma, could you make a list of everyone
you sold a cup of coffee to on the day of the murder?”
    My assistant
frowned before she answered.   “It
might not be complete, but I should be able to come pretty close.   Why, is it important?”
    “Sweetie, she
wants to know who might have bought one and poisoned it before giving it to the
new police chief,” Sharon explained, and then she looked at me.   “Is that right?”
    “It is,” I said.
    “Suzanne, do you
have some paper and a pen I can borrow?   I’ll make the list for you right now.”
    I grabbed the pen
and pad I kept by the landline phone for messages and handed them to her.   “Thanks.   It might