Jasmine and Jealousy
Page 17
"Seems extreme. He could have just split up the business. Besides, Angel was no prize, apparently. I'm glad they caught him. Was that Fairchild on the phone?"
Briggs rubbed his chin in thought. "No, it was Chinmoor. He said Detective Fairchild had called in sick. Strange, right?"
I shrugged. "Just because you never take a sick day. But yes, considering this is her first week, I suppose it is a little soon for that." I folded up the paper to read for later. I knew everything it was going to say anyhow. In true form, I turned my focus to the box of donuts.
"Chinmoor also mentioned that the whole town seems to be buzzing about this morning's paper," he added. "How are you doing? I heard you talking to someone."
"Yes, it was Ann Wescott from the Tribune." I looked at him over my maple bar. "The paper has sold out."
His phone rang again. "Wow, busy morning considering it's my day off." This time he didn't bother to leave the table. He leaned over and grabbed a glazed twist. "Briggs here."
He listened with a serious expression, glancing my way a few times before pulling his gaze away. "That's interesting. Did she give a reason why?" he asked. Briggs looked at me again, only this time for a little longer before pulling away. "Right, thanks for letting me know. I guess that means I'm on call. Let me know if anything comes up." He hung up and put down his phone. There was a dramatic pause before he lifted his face. "Detective Chrissy Fairchild just handed in her resignation."
I dropped the donut onto the napkin. "What? You're kidding? What happened? Too humiliated after her Rico Sanders disaster?"
Briggs tilted his head side to side. "That might have been part of it, but it seems she didn't want to—and these were her words—she didn't want to work in a gossipy town that printed salacious newspaper articles."
My hand flew to my mouth. "The article about Harvard Price pushed her out of town?" I couldn't stop my grin.
"What's that word again?" he asked.
"Schadenfreude," I supplied.
"Seems to be going around a lot lately," he quipped.
"Are you upset?" I asked. "I mean a new detective meant more days off for you."
"To tell you the truth, I'm relieved. She just didn't seem like a good match."
This time it was my phone with a text to interrupt the donut breakfast. "What a morning," I said as I checked my phone. "It's from Ryder. He said people are parading in and out of the shop, wanting to talk to me." I pulled my mouth tight and looked up at Briggs. "That sounds bad. Maybe people are mad at me."
I texted right back. "Are they upset?"
A return text pinged through. "No, they want to thank you."
I released the breath I'd been holding. "He says they want to thank me. But I'll bet there's at least one person who doesn't want to thank me," I started but was again halted by Briggs getting another phone call.
"This is starting to get comical," he said as he answered. "Briggs here." Another serious expression followed before his brows lifted in surprise. "You're kidding? Wow, can this day get any more bizarre? Let me know if you need me to come in. Sounds like it's going to be a wild day in Port Danby." He hung up and sat back with a flourish. "Well, sweet, adorable, clever, love of my life, guess what?"
"I don't know but if it earns me all those nice adjectives, then I'm all for it. What's up?" I lifted the maple bar to my mouth.
He held up his hand. "Don't take a bite yet."
I lowered the donut. "Uh oh, what happened?"
"That was Officer Chinmoor, as you might have guessed. He just informed me that Mayor Harlan Price has just handed his resignation to the city council."
I blinked at him across the table for a few seconds, waiting for him to laugh and say just kidding. But it didn't come. "Well, Miss Pinkerton, what do you have to say to that?"
"Oops."
Decadent Chocolate Brownies
Click here to view recipe online
Port Danby will be back soon, in the meantime give the Firefly Junction or Starfire series a try!
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London Lovett is the author of the Port Danby, Starfire and Firefly Junction Cozy Mystery series. She loves getting caught up in a good mystery and baking delicious, new treats!
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