Fudge-Laced Felonies by Cynthia Hickey Read Free Book Online Page A

Eunice bustled in, her face flushed from exertion.
    “Girl, there’s been a murder.”
     
     
     
    Five
     
    “What?” I was full of interesting responses this evening.
    Grasping the railing, Aunt Eunice pulled herself up the stairs. She puffed like a winded racehorse and, wheezing, balanced her hands. “Some stranger. Gone. Dead.”
    “Richard Bland. A diamond broker. April told me. They find his body?”
    Aunt Eunice shook her head. “I don’t know who you’re talking about. Never heard of a Bland. No, this young fellow visited the Ruperts. Name was David Young. Po-lice said he’d been dead since late Tuesday night or the early hours of Wednesday.”
    My aunt straightened and clutched her chest. “I ran all the way from the mailbox to tell you. Probably going to have a heart attack.”
    She would’ve had to run about thirty feet. “How’d you find out?” I took Aunt Eunice’s arm and helped her down the stairs to the kitchen. I flicked on the light against the growing dusk.
    “Mabel stopped by when I was checking the mail. Seems she heard it on the po-lice scanner.” Aunt Eunice collapsed into a chair. “The young man was visiting the youngest Rupert. Terri Lee, I think. Anyway, they found him buried in the woods outside of town. Some dog dug him up.”
    Terri Lee’s back in town? I shuddered, refusing to think of my high school nemesis. Leaving my aunt to recuperate, I pulled open a drawer and rummaged for a pencil. “Aunt Eunice, where’s paper? I need to make a list.”
    “Same place it’s always been, Summer.”
    “Oh.” I snatched a small spiral notebook from the drawer next to the refrigerator and rushed to the table. I’d have to get my own supplies if I planned to solve this case.
    “What are you writing?” Aunt Eunice leaned her elbows on the white-speckled Formica in front of her. The red in her face subsided, and her breathing returned to normal.
    “A suspect list.” I tapped the pencil on the table. “Did you know we have a missing diamond broker?”
    “I do now.” She pointed at my pad of paper. “List him.”
    I wrote Richard Bland and then gnawed the eraser as my mind ran through the names of Mountain Shadows’ residents. I knew I’d find a lot of suspicious characters at the dance tomorrow night. I added Mabel and Ruby.
    “Why’d you put them there?” My aunt scowled at me. “They wouldn’t hurt anyone but each other.”
    “I noticed the rock on Ruby’s finger this morning and heard through the grapevine that Mabel is driving around town in a brand-new Caddy.”
    “So?”
    “Where’d they get the money? You said yourself they only work part-time.” I rose from my chair and paced. “I’m writing down the Ruperts, too, since it’s their guest who’s turned up dead.” My stomach lurched at the thought of an actual body.
    Aunt Eunice stood and planted herself in front of me. “Then you might as well put me down, too. You’ve got all my friends.” She reminded me of a short, round bull terrier. A cute one, but if she let out a bark, I’d be out of there.
    “Aunt Eunice.” She whirled and stalked past my outstretched hand. “I didn’t mean—” I dropped my hand and returned to my list.
    My aunt poked her head around the corner long enough to scream at me, “You might want to take a minute and ask God who should go on that list!” Heavy footsteps signaled her march up the stairs.
    Great. Now there were two things I needed to speak with God about. My lie being first. Most of my Christian life, my aunt, Ethan, or April has told me to think and ask God before acting.
    Summer, did you pray about it? Don’t be so impulsive. Did you ask God first? All my life, people have told me to wait on God. Why is it so hard for me to give the control of my life over to Him? I would have to have a serious conversation with Him during my next devotion time. I’d need to remember to pray for guidance and wisdom. And not to do something stupid.
    “What about dinner?”