Death by Chocolate Sundae: A Cozy Mystery (Caesars Creek Mystery Series Book 2) by Constance Barker Read Free Book Online Page B

with Mr. Brooks.
     
    Teresa continued her story, speaking slowly. “I stayed back out of the light of the street lamp and I saw a man approach the window of your store. He had his back to me so I didn’t recognize him. I moved back as the police cars and ambulance arrived and as other people gathered. That’s when I saw you,” she said pointing to Sam.
     
    I shifted in my chair. “So someone called you to come here in the hopes of ending the lawsuit, correct?”
     
    “Yes, but I never knew who called.” Teresa’s eyes were glazed.
     
    “Why didn’t you tell the police?” Stormi asked.
     
    “I was afraid they’d think I was lying,” Teresa slowly swept a lose hair away from her forehead. “Here I was at the crime scene with no good explanation. I just thought it better to keep quiet.”
     
    She remained lucid despite the slow speech.
     
    Teresa then turned and looked at me. “I think maybe I was late. I had a difficult time coming up with a reason to leave the house that night. Finally, I told my husband I needed to go to the drugstore to get something to help me sleep. Since I hadn’t been sleeping because of the lawsuit, he didn’t become suspicious. But it took me some time to get out of the house. I now think I was supposed to be inside this Shoppe when Mr. Jenkins took his pills. It would place me at the scene of the crime.”
     
    “BRAVO!!”
     
    All of us jumped and several let out a squeal. We all turned around to see Mr. Brooks standing behind my ice cream counter. He apparently snuck in through my back door that I neglected to lock when I shut down the Shoppe for the night. He stood clapping his hands as he looked out over us.
     
    “What the hell!” Stormi stood up from her chair with daggers in her eyes. “What do you think you’re doing?”
     
    “Well ladies, and gentleman,” he said nodding to Colton. “I saw your little get together as I passed by and thought I should listen in.”
     
    He walked around the ice cream counter. Tonight he was wearing a tan overcoat and a crazy look in his eye. “I knew it was only a matter of time before someone noticed the pill bottle in my hand. I was shocked you hadn’t noticed it the first time you viewed the tape. Perhaps you all aren’t as brilliant at solving crimes as you thought.”
     
    Paige put an arm around Sam. “But why would you poison Mr. Jenkins?”
     
    “He threatened to expose me, the dumb twit. The Landry Department store case was all a sham, but he convinced me to go in with him and stick it to the big guy. My law practice was slow and a nice payday sounded like a good idea. But then Mr. Jenkins decided to get greedy. For some unknown reason he decided to go after the small Mom and Pop store, the Parker’s Tractor and Supply. The thing was, he actually did hurt himself at the store, so this time his injuries were real.”
     
    Mr. Brooks leaned back against the counter, seemingly making himself comfortable as he regaled us with his tale. I looked around the room at Paige, Stormi, the kids and Teresa. She was still out of it; with her lids drooping, I was afraid she’d fall to the floor any instant. Stormi looked like she wanted to dive across the table at Mr. Brooks, while Paige was understandably nervous, what with her child involved in such a precarious state of affairs. I sat still in my chair listening as Mr. Brooks continued.
     
    “But I didn’t want to pursue it…tried to talk him out of it. However he became belligerent, said he’d expose me for the fraudulent case against the Landry Department store. I told him he would be cutting his nose off to spite his face, but he didn’t care. He said he’d pull me right down into the gutter with him.”
     
    Mr. Brooks folded his arms across his chest. “There was no talking to the man. He wanted to sue and there was no way around it. I could have gone ahead with the lawsuit, but it was eating at me that this little pig of a man could hold such power over me.