Ryan and Hoskins started reading Nancy Templeton her rights and lead her away. The last thing Janine said to her mom was, “But he was my dad. And now I won’t have either of my parents.”
It was quiet in the house after the detectives left with Nancy. Then Eddie asked, “Was that a setup? Did you know it was her all along?”
Heather nodded.
“Bingo,” Amy seconded. The dog barked.
“How did you know?” Janine asked. “I had no idea.”
“The burgers,” Heather said. “I kept wondering why she chose the burgers and grill as a way to kill him. She was hoping that we would consider the explosion an accident because of the alternations he made to it. But she chose to use burgers because she knew that her vegetarian daughter would steer clear of the meat. She wanted to make sure that you were far away from the danger. She wanted to make sure you were safe.”
Janine sat on the couch and started crying.
“She took away my family,” she said softly. Bingo came up to her and started licking the tears off of her face.
“Hey,” Eddie said, moving closer. “What am I? Chopped liver?” He hugged her and said, “You’re still my sister.”
Janine hugged him back. “I’m glad you’re my brother. Even if you are annoying.”
“Takes one to know one.”
Heather and Amy left the siblings alone. This was a terrible ordeal for them to go through, but the one positive note was that it strengthened their relationship. Heather knew that they would take care of one another, with a little help from their four-legged friend who was back on his feet.
“We’re lucky that plan worked,” Amy said.
“We are lucky,” Heather agreed. “I also feel lucky because of the people we have in our lives. I think maybe we should all go grab some burgers together since our barbecue was cut short.”
“I’m game,” Amy agreed. “Just as long as we don’t use any super grills.”
Chapter 18
“You did great work on this case,” Ryan told his wife.
“Thanks,” Heater said. “This was a hard one.”
“It was quite an explosive case,” Amy added.
They all groaned. Instead of grilling again, they had opted to go to a local burger restaurant. All the two-legged guests from Memorial Day had returned. They had also decided that they would return to the Shepherd house after the meal for donuts, and to share their doggy bags with the dog and cat.
Heather pulled Amy over for a quick word.
“Jamie seems so relaxed now,” Heather said. “How did you finally convince him that we liked him?”
“Oh, I tried reverse psychology. I told him that you were afraid he didn’t like you.”
“Really?”
“I thought it might calm him down if he thought you were in the same boat. Now you can be friends with no pressure.”
“Good idea,” Heather said. Then she thought about it. “But he really does like me, doesn’t he?”
Amy laughed. “Oh no, it’s backfiring the other way.”
Heather shook off the doubt. She knew she was surrounded by people that she loved and that loved her back.
Jamie and Ryan looked like they were getting along talking about the game that was playing on TV. Lilly and Nicolas were coloring the mazes on their children’s placemats to add some more surprises to the labyrinth. Eva and Leila were keeping busy talking about the renovations to their house. Heather smiled.
She was just thinking that things couldn’t get any better until the food arrived. Then it got even more delicious.
“These might be the best sweet potato fries I ever had,” Heather said. “I wonder if I could turn these into a donut.”
“I’d like to try it if you do,” Eva said.
“Me too,” Leila said.
“It could be sweet and salty,” Jamie offered.
“Exactly,” said Heather. He was going to fit in just fine. Amy gave them both a thumbs up sign.
Heather took another bite of her sweet potato fries and then had a thought.
“Uh oh,” Ryan said. “She has one of those looks.”
“And she already came up with a new donut flavor,” Amy said. “It must have something to do with a murder.”
“We’re between cases,” Ryan said.
“Quick! Make sure no busboys have disappeared,” Amy said.
“Could that really happen?” Jamie asked, concerned.
“Stop it,” Heather commanded with a laugh. “I just had a thought about something nice I could do. This has nothing to do with murder.”
They all relaxed and enjoyed the rest of their evening together. They all enjoyed the food and the fact that they didn’t have to do the grilling themselves. Heather realized this might be one of those “get back on the bike” sort of things, and that they would have to another barbecue soon. That was fine. The 4th of July was coming up in a few weeks. Hopefully, no murder could interfere with that holiday.
***
“I don’t know, boss,” Maricela said. “You already give us donuts. Now you want to feed us more.”
Heather laughed. Despite the protests, she noticed that her staff was enjoying the lunch of burgers and sweet potato fries that she had provided.
“I was out with my family and was thinking about how you are all like a family to me too. I want you to know how much I appreciate all the hard work you do.”
“Of course we know,” Angelica said. “But this is a great way to make sure that I never go looking for another job. Where else would I be surrounded by friends and delicious food?”
Emily Potts has put down her notebook for the lunch, figuring that she wouldn’t need to take notes on this dish.
Jung and Ken were whispering about something as they ate their food. Slowly the whispers spread through the group of assistants.
“Okay, what’s going on?” Heather asked.
“Well,” Jung said. “You’ve done a ton of nice stuff for us.”
“Gave us good jobs,” Maricela said.
“Made us feel like part of the team,” Emily Potts said.
“Made sure we weren’t arrested on murder charges,” Ken said.
“So we wanted to do something nice for you too,” Jung said.
“You already take care of my shop,” Heather said. “You don’t have to do anything else.”
“We know,” Angelica said. “But we wanted to do a little something extra.”
“What is it?”
The giggling group of assistants headed to the back room and covered their surprise behind their backs as they returned. They made a bit of a triumphant trumpeting noise and then parted to reveal their creation.
“We made our own donut for you!” Maricela said, holding out the plate with their gift on it.
“It’s a basic chocolate base,” Emily Potts said consulting her notes. “But we hoped you would like the design.”
Heather smiled from ear to ear. She loved the design. The donut was decorated to look like a magnifying glass. It had dark chocolate frosting around the circle and had a licorice handle sticking out of it. In the center of the donut were small slivers of chocolate arranged to look like a fingerprint.
“We tried to combine your two favorite things,” Jung said.
“Donuts and sleuthing,” said Maricela.
“I absolutely love it!” Heather said. “And I don’t think I’ve ever said this about a donut before, but it looks too beautiful to eat.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Ken said. “I thought that might be an issue.”
“We know we’re artists,” Angelica said with a laugh.”
“So I took a picture of it and framed it,” Ken said. “That way you can have your donut and eat it too.”
He showed off the framed photo.
“That’s going to go right on the wall,” Heather insisted.
“Then people will know that the proprietor can help you with your donuts or any cases you might have,” Angelica said.
<
br /> “And they can see how talented my assistants are,” Heather said.
“Now I think you’re just stalling,” Maricela said. “Are you afraid to try our creation?”
“Not at all,” Heather said.
Then she took a delicious bite
The End
A letter from the Author
To each and every one of my Amazing readers: I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Let me know what you think by leaving a review!
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Stay Curious,
Susan Gillard
Blueberry Spangled Murder: A Donut Hole Cozy Mystery - Book 48 Page 7