Free Uncommon Grounds by Sandra Balzo Page B

happy to fuel them, if it would take her mind off Caron. “And what about Rudy? Maybe he was so worried about the possibility of losing the election he killed her. And,” I pointed out with a flourish, “his barbershop backs onto the same hallway as Uncommon Grounds. It wouldn’t have been a problem for him to get in and out without being seen.”
    Sarah looked skeptical, but wrote it down anyway. “I can’t see Rudy with an espresso machine. A straight razor maybe, but—”
    “Who knows what people are capable of,” I said eagerly. “And what about David, don’t they always suspect the...” I stopped, ashamed of myself for treating this like a game when the sight of David’s face when he saw Patricia was still so fresh in my memory.
    Sarah shook her head, voicing what I was thinking. “I know David Harper. He did not kill his wife.”
    “Then there’s Way,” I suggested, trying to get us past the awkwardness. “He was awfully eager to tell Gary he’d seen Caron at the shop on Saturday.”
    Sarah hadn’t heard about that, so I filled her in. She listened and then sighed, her long face regretful. “I know you don’t want to hear this, Maggy, but Caron had both motive and opportunity.”
    “Motive, what motive? Roger dumped Patricia for Caron, so why would Caron kill her? Besides, I don’t think Caron knows about Patricia and Roger even now.” I checked my watch. It was nearly 2:00.
    Sarah pushed a strand of hair off her face and grinned. “Are you sure there was nothing going on between you and Roger? You’re the only one left.”
    “For God’s sake, I’m ten years older than he is,” I said as I got up to leave. “And I’m—”
    “More like fifteen years, by my calculations,” she corrected, following me to the door. “But unlike Caron and Patricia, you have every right to play around. Heck, you don’t even have to worry about getting pregnant anymore.”
    I stopped. Geez, could nothing involving age, marital status, or reproductive organs remain private in Brookhills these days? Leave it to Sarah to call a spayed, a spayed.
    I turned on her. “Here’s a pregnant thought for you, Sarah. Starbucks has like six thousand stores right this second. I say ‘right this second’ because they’ve probably added a couple since we started talking.”
    I held up a finger. “I have one store. And that one hasn’t opened yet. You want to give me advice?” Sarah just stared at me and I moved closer, happy to have her or anyone else on the defensive for once. “Tell me how I’m going to get the store open and profitable before I lose everything I’ve worked for over the last twenty years.”
    “I’m sorry, Maggy, but...”She stopped and backed off. I waited for the apology.
    But Sarah just sniffed and backed off some more. “Whoa. Better Butter Burger? Extra onions?”
    Arggh. I left. And I didn’t regret the onions—not one iota.
    As I pulled away from the curb in front of Kingston Realty, I saw Kate McNamara come tearing out of Town Hall. I thought perhaps Langdon was giving chase, but no such luck. Kate merely crossed the parking lot and slammed her way into the police station. What had set her off?
    Then again, Kate was the type of person who always acted like she had something important to do. Even if that something was covering a Tiny Tots’ dance recital in the high school gym. Of course, TT dance recitals were big events in Brookhills, where doting parents presented their four-year-olds with roses after the performances.
    Maybe I was just jealous. It had been a long time since anybody had given me roses.
    I drove the short distance down Civic Drive to the side parking lot of Uncommon Grounds. The store was situated in Benson Plaza on the corner of Civic and Brookhill Road, the main east/west drag in Brookhills.
    We had chosen that location because there was easy access from both Civic and Brookhill. In the coffee business, those morning commuters picking up their road cups were