Custard Crime: Donut Mystery #14 (The Donut Mysteries) by Jessica Beck Read Free Book Online

honesty, it might just help having you
there.”
    I stopped walking and looked at him.   “Jake, you’re not afraid of my mother,
are you?   She’s just a little old
thing.”
    “Her size isn’t what intimidates me,” Jake admitted.
    “You know, sometimes you are smarter than you look.”
    “I certainly hope so,” Jake said, the relief clear in
his voice.
    I knew that my mother could be a mighty combatant,
and I always loved having her in my corner, but Jake was right to be wary of
her.   If he took the wrong tone with
Momma, she’d eat him for breakfast, and what was more, everyone involved knew
it.  
    “Are you going to have any trouble with the chief?” I
asked him.
    “No, he understands the situation.   He might just be local law enforcement,
but he really is a pro, Suzanne.   You don’t give him enough credit sometimes.”
    “Maybe not,” I replied.   I’d actually wondered the same thing
myself.   I had been the police chief’s
biggest critic at times in the past, and now that he was married to my mother,
I realized that it was time I adjusted my attitude toward the man.   I wouldn’t go so far as to call him my
stepfather, though technically it was true, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t
merit a modicum of respect from me, given his changed status in my mother’s
life.
    I glanced over at Jake and saw his open mouth.   “What is that look for?” I asked.
    “You just agreed with me without an argument,” Jake
said.
    “Well, don’t get used to it.   It’s not like I want to set any precedents
here.”
    “Don’t worry.   I won’t take it for granted.   I might relish it a little, though.   Are you okay with that?”
    “As long as you celebrate quietly,” I said with a
slight laugh.
    “Come on,” Jake said as we got back to the
cottage.   “Let’s go see your mother.”
    “Can we take my Jeep?” I asked him as I looked over
the squad car he’d been given.
    “I don’t see why not,” he said, “even though we are
on official police business.”
    “Don’t worry.   I won’t tell anybody if you don’t,” I said.

 
 
 
    Chapter 7

 
    “My, what a pleasant surprise,” Momma said as Jake
and I walked into her new place.   “I
wasn’t expecting to see either one of you today.”
    “Sorry about that, Momma,” I told her.   “I know that we should have called
first, but we need to talk.”
    “Suzanne, I thought you were going to let me handle
this,” he told me softly.
    I smiled at him.   “What on earth made you think that?”
    “I don’t know, maybe the fact that I’m the one who’s in
charge of this investigation?” Jake asked.
    “Is that what this is about?” Momma asked us.   “Hold on one second.”   She turned and called out to the other
room, “Phillip, could you come in here and join us, please?”
    Chief Martin came out of the den, and he looked a
little surprised to see us there.   I
knew that it had been nearly a month, but I was still wrapping my head around
the fact that the police chief and my mother were married and living together
as husband and wife.   Every time I
went over there, I was honestly startled to find him in the house.  
    The chief nodded at Jake, smiled briefly at me, and
then he asked my mother, “What’s this about?”
    “They are here to discuss Evelyn’s death,” Momma
said.
    The chief looked immediately uncomfortable when he
heard that bit of news.   “Dorothea,
you know that I’m not supposed to get involved with this investigation.”
    “Don’t worry.   It’s clear that you aren’t trying to solve the case,” Momma said in a
dismissive tone of voice.   “But Jake
and Suzanne are here to talk with me about what happened to your ex-wife, and I
think you should be a part of the discussion.”
    “As the police chief?” I asked her.
    “No, as my husband,” Momma said.
    “I don’t have any objections to you being here, Chief,”
I said, and then I turned to Jake.   “Do