Free Murder for Millions (Sky High Pies Cozy Mysteries Book 7) by Mary Maxwell Page A

told me Robin
Bellmore and that new guy she’s partnered with—”
    “Andy Davidson!” Julia blurted. “Is
he a dreamboat or what?”
    I chuckled at her response to the
name of the new EMT. Andy Davidson had joined the Crescent Creek Fire
Department a couple of months earlier when he and his wife moved to town. Mrs. Davidson
was a pediatrician and she’d agreed to relocate to our mountain paradise to
take over Dr. Shannon’s practice. He was retiring after six decades as the
area’s most popular doctor, a slice of news that caught many local residents by
surprise. Since he’d delivered nearly all of them when they were born—along
with their own children—most people felt his retirement was the end of an era.
But I liked Lili Davidson and it was amusing to watch women in town swoon over
her husband.
    “I mean, Andy has got the bluest
eyes,” Julia went on, beaming like a schoolgirl. “And his arms are the size
of—” She stopped when she noticed the bemused expression on my face. “Oh!
Sorry, Katie! I ran into Andy and Lili a couple of days ago at Scoops of Joy.”
    “No need to apologize, sweetie. I
totally get it. The guy’s a hunk. And she’s like a runway model dressed in
scrubs. They’re one of the most attractive couples in town.”
    Julia’s eyebrows wiggled. “Right up
there with you and Zack!”
    “Not to mention you and Jared.”
    She beamed. “My husband is pretty hot. But I’m like a—”
    “Stop right there!” I warned. “I
don’t want to hear one disparaging remark out of your mouth. Words are
powerful, Jules. What we say and think creates energy, either positive or
negative.”
    She smirked. “Did you DVR Dr. Phil
again?”
    “No, I read that somewhere.”
    “In one of his books?”
    I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter where I
saw it. I think it’s totally true.”
    She sighed. “Sorry, Katie. I got
distracted by that mention of Andy Davidson. You were telling me about the fire
and whatnot.”
    I nodded.
    “Who did the police find at Ira
Pemberton’s place?”
    “His name was Jacob Lowry,” I
answered. “He was dead at the scene.”
    “Oh, that’s horrible,” Julia said
in a hushed voice. “In the fire?”
    “No, he was discovered in a car
parked out back. I won’t go into the gruesome details, but Trent told me it was
staged to look like a suicide.”
    Julia narrowed her gaze. “Like
someone murdered him, but wanted people to think the guy had killed himself?”
    “That’s it in a nutshell.”
    “Why would they do that?”
    “No idea, but you can certainly
speculate plenty of possibilities. Maybe the arsonist killed Mr. Lowry when he
happened upon the scene as they set the fire. Or maybe he was involved, but his
partner decided to go solo after burning Pemberton’s.”
    Julia’s eyes went wide. “Oh, like
maybe they had a fight or something?”
    “Could be,” I said. “Once you start
guessing about the motive for an unsolved crime, you can take it in at least a
dozen different directions.”
    She pursed her lips, deep in
thought. “Yeah…” Her gaze wandered from my face to the whiteboard to the mixer.
“And, I hate to say this, but speaking of directions…” She tapped the recipe
card on the counter. “I should get back to Mrs. Baldasari’s Peppermint Puffs.”
    “And I need to make myself useful,”
I agreed, glancing at the next special order on the list. “I’ll take care of
Herman Bright’s cookies before I check email and phone messages.”
    Julia smiled. “A little calm before
the storm?”
    “Something like that,” I said. “My
sixth sense is telling me it’s going to be another wild and crazy Sky High
day!”

CHAPTER
15
     
     
    When the dust settled later and the
flood of lunch diners had slowed to a trickle, Julia was slumped against the kitchen
counter with a glass of lemonade, two Peppermint Puffs and her face suffused
with the look of someone who’s just witnessed a life-changing event.
    “Can I tell you how much I