Murder to Go (The Heights Bed and Breakfast Cozy Mystery Series Book 1) by Susan D. Baker Page B

performances. After
that, I think I’ll do a week-long ‘Welcome Back’ performance at The
Heights—free of charge—just to make up for all this confusion.”
    Carolyn
squeezed Kat’s hands. “Thank you. I’m sure Sarah and David will really
appreciate that.”
    Kat
hugged Carolyn and walked out the door. Carolyn turned back to Babs. “I’m ready
when you are.”
    Babs
regarded her. “Is there anyone in this town you aren’t friends with?”
    “Yeah,”
Carolyn replied. “Phillip Sawyer.” She stared at Babs. “I feel like a fool that
I didn’t know more about you, too.”
    “What
for?” Babs asked. “I’m just a run-of-the-mill homicide detective. If someone
else arrested Karl that night, I never would have met you. You probably never
would have known I existed.”
    “I
have to admit,” Carolyn remarked, “I didn’t think much of you when I first met
you. I thought you unfairly singled out Karl for this murder and didn’t do
enough to investigate the other possible suspects.”
    Babs
shrugged. “I’ll make a confession. I didn’t think much of you when I first met
you, either. I thought you were stepping out your area of expertise by looking
into this murder, and I didn’t think you were smart enough to solve it.”
    “I’m
glad I proved you wrong,” Carolyn replied.
    “I’m
glad, too,” Babs told her. “I never liked arresting Karl, so if he can convince
me he just made turkey sandwiches, I will make sure he is out of jail by the
end of the day.”
    Carolyn
touched Babs arm. “Thank you so much, Babs.”
    “I’m
the one who should be thanking you for doing all of this work for me,” Babs
returned. “If anybody else in Evergreen Cove turns up dead, I’ll know where to
come for help.”
    “I
would love to help in any way I can,” Carolyn replied. “ButI’m not a sleuth.”
    Babs
unlocked the door to the holding cells. “You are now.”
    She led
Carolyn into an interrogation room adjacent to the holding cells. A guard
brought Karl into the room. He glared at Carolyn. “What’s she doing here?”
    “Sit
down, Karl,” Babs told him. “I have some questions to ask you. When I finish,
you just might like to apologize to your wife for being such an insufferable
boor.”
    Karl’s
eyes shot up. He frowned at Babs. Then he sank into his chair. “Ask me whatever
you want to ask me and let me go back to my cell.”
    “After
these questions,” Babs returned, “you might not be going back to your cell.
    Karl
raised his eyebrows.
    “Really…
then, by all means… ask away,” He stammered, smiling at this opportunity.
    “Let’s
start at the very beginning,” Babs told him. “Tell me exactly what you did on
the morning of the murders. Start from the very moment you woke up.”
    “I
woke up before sunrise, like I always do, and went into the kitchen to make coffee,”
Karl replied.
    “That
would be the kitchen of the manager’s apartment, I guess,” Babs interrupted.
“What was the exact time you woke up in the morning?”
    “Yes,
I was in the manager’s apartment kitchen. I always like to have a pot of coffee
ready for Carolyn and the kids,” Karl informed her. “I woke up at five o’clock,
there is a lot of prep that I need to do before I can make breakfast for the
guests and get the day’s baking started.”
    “All
right,” Babs prompted. “Please continue.”
    “I
sat at the table and read the paper and drank my coffee until twenty after
five,” Karl went on. “Then I went into the kitchen—the B & B kitchen, that
is. I turned on all the ovens and unlocked the walk-in. I did some paperwork
until about quarter to six. Then I started the baking. At six-thirty, I started
cooking breakfast.
    “Okay,
we can skip breakfast,” Babs replied. “After breakfast, what did you do?”
    “At
eight-thirty, I cleaned up the kitchen, and I got ready for lunch,” Karl told
her. “That’s when I made the lunchboxes for 9am pick-up at the service window.”
    “How
many