Free Bad Bites: Donut Mystery #16 (The Donut Mysteries) by Jessica Beck Page B

that particular discussion.
    Emily laughed at my response.   “Come on, be honest; you were married to the man.   Back me up on this.”
    I joined her with a chuckle of my own.   “Okay, it’s true.”
    “There, see?   I told you.   Max, you need to a new role to play.”
    “Hey, I keep auditioning, but no one seems to want me,” he said, clearly
a little hurt to have to admit it, especially in front of me.
    “If there aren’t any roles for you, then stage another play yourself.   You know you love directing your troupe
of senior citizens.”
    Max shrugged.   “Maybe you’re
right.   I’ll start digging through
scripts this afternoon.”
    “Excellent,” she said as she touched his shoulder lightly and then she
turned back to me.   “Suzanne, I’ll
have a hot chocolate donut, please, and make it to go.   I have to get to work soon.   My buddies Cow, Spots, and Moose will be
waiting for me.”   The three
aforementioned friends were Emily’s childhood stuffed animals.   Instead of storing them away in an attic
somewhere, Emily had displayed them prominently on a shelf above the register
of her little shop.   In fact, she
loved them so much that she’d named the place after them.
    “What are they dressed up as now?” I asked her.   Emily loved to clothe her stuffed
animals in all kinds of outfits, and folks in town loved seeing what she came
up with.
    “They’re between costumes at the moment, but I’ve got a few ideas I’m
toying with.   Have I done pirate
outfits yet?   I’ll have to check the
photo album.”   Turning back to her
donut choice, she asked me, “Suzanne, is there any way that you could add some
sprinkles and some extra marshmallow to mine?”
    “For you, why not?” I asked as I embellished her donut to her
specifications.   Emily was known for
her love of toppings, so it didn’t surprise me that she wanted something a
little fancier.
    “How about you?” I asked Max after I delivered Emily’s donut to her.
    “Just coffee,” he said.
    “No treats today?” I asked.
    Max patted his stomach.   “I
have to stay at my ideal weight, just in case something comes up.”
    “Got it,” I said.   “How about
you, Emily?   Would you like something
to drink?”
    “Let me see.   How about some
chocolate milk?”
    “Aren’t you afraid of going into some kind of chocolate shock?” Max asked
her.
    “Dear, sweet, Max, there’s no such thing as too much chocolate.   Am I right, Suzanne?”
    “I’m with you wholeheartedly on that one,” I said as I finished filling
their orders.   After Max paid, I
gave him his change and said, “Thanks for coming by.”
    “Thank you for the goodies,” Emily said as the two of them left the shop
hand in hand.
    After they were gone, I started thinking about what Max had said.   I knew that he loved to exaggerate, but
I also understood that he was a student of human nature, and if he said that
Chester had been unhappy with Kevin Leeds, then I was just as sure that it was
true.   The only question in my mind
was why?   As far as I knew, the two men didn’t
have any connection at all.   So why
did his name keep popping up in my murder investigation?   It was definitely something that Grace
and I were going to have to explore.   Speaking of Grace, I needed to see if she could get off work early and
help me do a little sleuthing.   As a
supervisor for a cosmetics company sales team, her schedule was pretty flexible
most of the time.   I just hoped this
was one of those occasions.
    During the next lull, I grabbed my cell phone and called her.
    “Hey, Grace.   What’s your
afternoon look like?”
    “Well, the clouds are starting to build up, so I’m thinking that it might
rain.”
    “That’s not what I meant.   Could you help me do a little digging into Chester Martin’s murder this
afternoon?”
    “As a matter of fact, I’ve already cleared my schedule,” she said.   “Should I be there at eleven?”
    “That