Free Scone Cold Dead by Kaitlyn Dunnett Page B

scones—and by the way, yuck!—and interviews will establish that Mrs. Eccles didn’t bake them. I found an EpiPen in a wastepaper basket that turned out to have no fingerprints on it, indicating that someone wiped it clean. Can’t prove it belonged to the victim, but it’s a good bet someone took it off him to prevent him using it, then dumped it in case anyone got suspicious and ordered the people at the reception searched.”
    â€œSo no one person is suspected more than any other at this point?”
    â€œAs of around three this morning, no. A confession would be nice, but it’s unlikely. And maybe someone saw something suspicious, but ditto. There was quite a crowd there last night. It wouldn’t have been hard for the killer to slip away to add a few extra scones to the ones Mrs. Eccles baked or to get rid of the EpiPen—a trip to the bathroom, or out for a breath of fresh air, would do it.”
    â€œBut where did the scones come from?”
    â€œPrepared in advance, I imagine. The food services people were the ones putting out the goodies. They’d have taken whatever was delivered, heated it up if it was supposed to be served hot, and taken it into the function room. Time it right, and they would have been too busy to notice a few extra scones. There’s no way to tell what the filling is until you bite into one.”
    It would have been easy, Liss thought. Too easy. It had taken careful planning, and a certain amount of luck, but Victor’s murderer would have needed only a minute or two when the kitchen was empty to slip in and make a deadly addition to the menu. As for getting hold of the EpiPen, that would have been even simpler. Victor customarily kept it in his outside jacket pocket. In a crowd, a jostle could easily go unnoticed. As far as Liss knew, no one in the company had experience as a pickpocket, but how hard could it be, especially when the victim had been drinking?
    â€œDumb luck factor,” she murmured.
    â€œYou betcha. Could just as easily have ended up without him so much as tasting one of the poisoned scones. Or someone could have sampled one and realized how awful the flavor was and tossed the whole batch. Owens must have been pretty drunk to reach for a second one. Then again, he all but inhaled the first. Maybe he didn’t even taste it.”
    â€œHe was kind of a glutton.”
    â€œOne of the seven deadlies.”
    â€œHe didn’t deserve to die for it!”
    A little silence fell in the car as Sherri studied the list again. “Are any of these suspects way more likely than the rest?”
    Liss debated with herself for a moment, but decided Sherri would be more helpful if she knew everything. “There is one thing. After Gordon left my house this morning, Zara broke down. She’s sure she’s going to be charged with Victor’s murder, but she won’t say why the police should think she’s guilty. She swears she didn’t kill Victor, and I believe her.”
    â€œZara’s the woman who’s staying with you?”
    Liss nodded. “I invited her and Sandy to bunk at my place. They’re engaged to be married,” she added. “They were thinking of leaving the company because Victor was giving Zara a hard time. Victor and Zara were a couple for a while, maybe a year or so ago. Nothing all that serious, though. Victor had a tendency to take up with any new addition to the troupe.”
    Sherri didn’t comment. She didn’t have to. Any time a romantic triangle existed, there was potential for tragedy. Some pretty deep and desperate emotions could lurk just beneath a polished surface.
    â€œSo, who’s first?” Sherri asked as Liss pulled into the parking lot of the Fallstown Motor Lodge. She unfastened her seat belt but made no effort to get out of the station wagon.
    Liss glanced at her watch. It was a few minutes before three in the afternoon. “Let’s try