Free Deadly Desserts (Sky High Pies Cozy Mysteries Book 6) by Mary Maxwell

said. “I just wanted to share that with you.”
    “Consider it shared.”
    “And there’s one more thing.”
    “Consider me listening.”
    “Nathaniel Craig has been ordering
a dozen roses from Pinky Newton’s flower shop every week,” I said. “And guess
who they’re for?”
    “Lacy Orvane?”
    “Bingo!”
    “Isn’t that pretty risky behavior?”
    “I suppose,” I agreed. “But the
guy’s pretty full of himself. And you know how some people can be when they
achieve a certain level of success. They think they’re above the law, cut from
a different cloth, impervious to rules.”
    She laughed again. “Impervious?”
    “What can I say? I heard it on a
cooking show I was watching last night. They were making barbecue chicken and
discussing crossword puzzles.”
    “Oh, doesn’t that sound good right
about now?”
    “Barbecue?”
    “To be honest,” she said, “anything
sounds good. I’m so tired of eating the junk in the vending machine.”
    “I could run over to Smoky Joe’s and
get you some ribs or a pulled pork sandwich,” I offered.
    “That’s okay, Katie. But thank you.
I’ll probably rummage around in the refrigerator in the break room. Maybe I can
pilfer somebody’s leftovers.”
    “I’m shocked! An officer of the law
committing a crime inside the police station?”
    She didn’t say anything. So I
apologized for the joke and waited.
    “Dina?” I said after another few
moments of silence. “Are you still with me?”
    “I’m, uh…”
    I waited, watching her shuffle
papers on her desk.
    “Sorry, Katie,” she said finally.
“I’m trying to find the summary report that I received earlier from Ted
Caldwell.”
    I’d never heard the name, so I
asked about the guy.
    “Oh, Ted? He’s great; just joined
us as a forensics tech.”
    “And what do his notes say?”
    “It’s a recap of all the evidence
we’ve collected so far,” Dina answered. “From inside Portia’s furniture store,
the alley out back and the security cameras in the vicinity.”
    “Anything you can share?”
    She cleared her throat. “Well, you
know this is all confidential, right?”
    “As always,” I said. “And you know
I’ll be judicious.”
    “I know that, Katie. I just feel
like we need to have that little exchange whenever we’re working a case
together.”
    I smiled at the remark; Dina
respected my experience as a private investigator and I valued her expertise as
one of the best detectives that I’d ever met. After returning to Crescent Creek
from Chicago, I’d been involved on the periphery of a handful of local
investigations. Since the Lacy Orvane case was new and we hadn’t discussed it
all that much, I was flattered that Dina had used the reference— working a
case together —even though I hadn’t had much involvement.
    “Okay, I agree. And now that we’ve
had that little chat, what does Ted Caldwell’s report say?”
    “Well, there are a couple of very interesting things,” she said. “The search of the alley found a paper bag
stashed behind a steel barrel near the back entrance to Sherman’s Sporting
Goods. And, here’s the most intriguing part of Ted’s report—the paper bag
contained three used syringes, a glass vial partially filled with clear liquid,
a deposit slip from Crescent Creek Bank and a plastic carryout container from
Drake’s Deli.”
    From the sly sound of her voice, I
could tell she was withholding one more spicy detail. “Okay, detective,” I said.
“There’s a card up your sleeve.”
    She chuckled. “Me?”
    “Yep. What gives?”
    “The plastic deli container,” she
said. “It’s got yesterday’s date on it along with a set of fingerprints, the
initials NC and the remnants of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.”
    “NC?”
    Dina nodded. “With the bank slip
included, I was thinking it might be Nathaniel Craig,” she said. “Tyler
Armstrong checked with Colin Drake at the deli. Craig’s a real creature of
habit. He goes there almost every