Cupcakes and Killing: A Cozy Mystery (Sweet Shoppe Mysteries - Book 2) by Cora Wilkins Read Free Book Online

Kaye said. “We’ll open the shops tomorrow, and when we have some spare time in the evening we’ll keep looking into this.”
    “I suppose we do need to make money!” Tori said. “And speaking of money, if we’re going to keep poking into this case, maybe we should invest in some trench coats and little Sherlock Holmes hats…”
    ***
    The next day was hectic at both shops, and we barely had any time to chat in between filling orders, baking, and serving customers. I was currently in the cupcake store, and Kaye was over at the candy store training a girl who was doing work experience for school.
    In the late afternoon, the busiest period was over, and I put my feet up while Tori removed our latest batch of cupcakes from the oven.
    “Those cupcakes need to cool before we ice them,” she said. “We don’t have any customers. Why don’t we take a break to see if we can think of anything else that might help with Zara’s case?”
    “Good idea,” I said. “I’ll just give Kaye a call and see if she’s not too busy at the Sweet Shoppe.”
    Apparently the Sweet Shoppe was just as empty as the cupcake shop now, so Kaye left it in the hands of two other workers and headed over to us.
    “I’ve barely had a moment to think straight today,” she declared as she plonked her handbag down. “Then just before you called, the place suddenly emptied out.”
    “Late afternoon lulls are always nice, aren’t they?”
    “Yep. Anyway, have either of you had any ideas?”
    “Well, by this stage the police have probably already gone and spoken to Amy and Mia, seeing as they’re the most likely prime suspects. Maybe we should go and talk to them too,” I said.
    “What good would that do if the police have already interviewed them? It’s not like they’d admit anything to us if it was either one of them,” Tori replied.
    “I know, but they might feel a little less jumpy around us, seeing as we aren’t police. If they are innocent, maybe they’ll remember something helpful that they forgot to tell the officers interviewing them. It can be pretty nerve-wracking talking to the police, so they could have easily forgotten something.”
    “Hmm…I suppose so. Worth a shot, anyway,” Kaye said. “I overheard someone saying that Mia is staying at Zara’s house at the moment, seeing as someone will need to pack up all her things.”
    “Poor girl,” I said. “She must feel awful, if she wasn’t the one who killed Zara, that is. I mean, her last words to her mother were so harsh.”
    “That they were. When should we go talk to her?”
    “Why don’t you two go now, and I’ll stay here and watch the store?” Tori asked. “Besides, those cupcakes still need frosting.”
    “All right.”
    Kaye and I headed to my car, and I steered it through the maze of back streets that led off the main strip. “Zara lived three houses down from Linda Davis, right?” I asked.
    “Yep. It’s the pale yellow house with the ivy.”
    That was one of the positives of living in a small town. Even if you’d never been to someone’s house, you still knew exactly where they lived in most cases.
    We walked up the little garden path to the front door and knocked, and Mia opened the door a moment later, her pale face peering out at us with narrowed eyes which appeared to be red and puffy from crying.
    “What do you want?”
    “Hi, Mia. We were friends with your Mom.”
    She opened the door a fraction more to get a decent look at us. “Come to accuse me of killing her like the police basically just did?”
    “No, we just wanted to know if we could talk to you about her.”
    She paused and stood there silently for a moment, then finally her shoulders sagged and she relented. “All right. Come in.”
    She led us into the lounge room, where a large cardboard box sat on the coffee table and photos and papers were strewn over one of the sofas.
    “Sorry about the mess,” she mumbled. “I’m trying to find all her photos.”
    “It’s