Free Raspberry Revenge by Jessica Beck Page B

I would have, and I tried to show some restraint as I put an oversized portion on mine.
    I failed miserably. There was no way that I was going to be able to eat all that food, even if I skipped having a roll, which I wasn’t about to do. Maybe I’d wrap up what was left and have it the next day. Putting part of my portion back into the pan never crossed my mind.
    As we sat at the table and ate, I made it a point not to quiz Jake about his day. After all, he deserved a break from the case, and for that matter, so did I. I’d spent so much of my focus on Harley Boggess, and that was after a full day of working at the donut shop, that I’d had little time to do anything else. It was pleasant chatting with my husband without having any ulterior motive.
    After we were finished, he grabbed both of our plates and carried them to the sink. That was the rule in our house: if you cooked, your spouse did the dishes, and yes, that included premade meals that were simply heated up. I grabbed the glasses and silverware and put them in with the plates. “Do you want a hand with those?” I asked him as I started putting the leftover lasagna into a container. Surprisingly, or not, there hadn’t been enough left on my plate to bother with, despite my earlier belief.
    “That would be great,” he said.
    We worked together, enjoying the time and each other’s company, and soon enough, the task was complete and our kitchen was spotless again.
    “Suzanne, I don’t know how you do it,” he asked as he hung the dish towel up to dry.
    “It’s not that bad. I took some of Momma’s recipes and added a few tricks I learned from Angelica, and I made something new and unique of my own.”
    “As great as the meal was, I wasn’t talking about the food.”
    “What, then?”
    “You didn’t say another word about George Morris, or the case at all, as soon as I asked you not to.”
    “Jake, you should know by now that I’m obedient, if I’m anything,” I said with as straight a face as I could manage.
    We both laughed at that so loudly that it was a wonder Grace didn’t come knocking on our door to see what was so hilarious. My husband and I were good for each other, and there wasn’t a day that I wasn’t happy we’d come together, a much different state of mind than I’d had during my first marriage to Max.
    “Well, you did a fine job keeping it in, and as a reward, I’m going to share a few things about the case that I’ve learned. Unless you want to go first.”
    “No, by all means. The floor is yours,” I said as we walked into the living room and sat on the couch. I’d stoked the fire upon arriving, and we had a nice cheery blaze going now.
    “I’m afraid it’s going to be a short dissertation,” he said glumly. “First off, there hasn’t been any sign of George anywhere. I’ve notified my old office at State Police Headquarters that our mayor is missing but that it’s nothing to be alarmed about yet.”
    “Was that a good idea?” I asked him. The last thing I wanted was his old boss getting his hands on April Springs again.
    “Maybe not, but my force isn’t big enough to conduct a statewide hunt,” he said. “For all of the good it’s done me. I looked over Harley’s home and his office pretty thoroughly. There were a few things that might turn out to be clues, but nothing struck me initially.”
    “How about George’s office?”
    “It’s clean,” he said. “I’ve been talking to the mayor about putting security cameras in City Hall, but he hasn’t shown the slightest bit of interest so far.”
    “I don’t blame him,” I said. “I hate the thought of someone watching me every time I go in and out of the building.”
    “Do you think I like it any better?” Jake asked. “I’m afraid that’s the way the world is headed. Anyway, it’s a moot point, at least as far as Harley’s murder is concerned.”
    “Has the coroner examined the body yet?” I asked, since it was not information I would