Free Lemon Larceny (The Donut Mysteries) by Jessica Beck

the words, Things We Need to Investigate.”
    She did as I
suggested, and then Momma asked, “What do I list there?”
    “Start with
whether or not Greta really was stealing from Aunt Jean, and then follow that
up with the true story about the land Adam wanted.   You might want to add that we need to
look for a hidden camera around here as we get the time.”
    “Who’s next?”
Momma asked after she finished writing.
    I leafed through
a few pages before I came to the next name.   I nearly dropped the book as I said, “I
don’t believe this.”
    “What is it?”
    “Aunt Jean listed
Chief Kessler as a possible suspect,” I said.
    “The police
chief?   Why would he want to hurt
Jean?”
    “I don’t
know.   Let’s see.”
    “ The chief offered to work on my car today on
his day off.   He told me that at
heart he’s a shade-tree mechanic, whatever that is, but I declined his offer.   My choice of transportation might not be
much, but it gets me where I want to go.   Was it just a coincidence that two days later my brakes failed and I
almost died?   I wonder.   The chief has been up to something
lately, what exactly it is I don’t know yet, but I’ll find out.   He thinks he can hide in plain sight,
but I’m on to him.   All I need is a
little proof, and then, if he’s doing something wrong, then I’m going to make
sure that he’s going down.   He might
put on an ‘aw shucks ma’am’ demeanor with everyone around town, but there’s
more there than he lets on. ”
    “So, it appears
that my little sister was playing Nancy Drew.”
    “Much like her
niece does even to this day,” I said.
    “Suzanne, I
didn’t mean anything disparaging by that,” Momma said.
    “I didn’t take it
that way.   I just find it interesting
that Aunt Jean and I had more in common than just our DNA.”
    “There was never
any doubt about that in mind,” Momma said with a smile.
    “I wonder what
she suspected the police chief was up to?”
    “I don’t know,
but it’s something else that we need to look into.   This is getting complicated, isn’t it?”
    “Murder usually
is,” I said.  
    “Who’s next on
the list?”
    It didn’t take me
long to find out.   “Hank Caldwell is
mentioned here,” I said, marveling that my aunt had so many suspicions about
the folks in her small town.
    “What could Hank
possibly have wanted from her?”
    Instead of
answering her directly, I started reading the passage aloud.   “ Hank
won’t get the message.   What we had
was fun, but when things started getting too serious, I tried to cool him
off.   He wouldn’t listen to me,
though.   Honestly, the man’s a bit
obsessed.   Last night, he hid in the
bushes in front of my house, and when I came outside, he jumped out and nearly
scared me to death.   I’m afraid that
I was a bit short with him, and I didn’t try to hide it.   He got furious, and before he stormed
off, he said, “If I can’t have you, then nobody can!”   It was honestly quite chilling, and I’m
beginning to regret ever going out with him in the first place.”
    “It doesn’t sound
like an idle threat, does it?” I asked Momma.   “Did you know that Aunt Jean was seeing
the handyman?”
    “My sister always
kept her personal life to herself, even when we were girls.   To be honest with you, I’m having a hard
time reconciling what she’s written about these people with the folks we’ve
met.   Is there a chance that she was
just being paranoid in the end?”
    “I know what
you’re saying, and I suppose that it’s possible, but we have to go with Aunt
Jean’s instincts on this.   Everyone
has got to be a suspect until proven otherwise.”
    “Agreed,” Momma
said.   “I hope that’s all,” she
added as she pointed to the journal.
    “It seems to be,”
I said as I scanned the pages further, but then an underlined name caught my
eye.   “Well, at least this one is no
surprise.   Anna Albright made the list.   I was