Murder So Sweet: A Frosted Love Cozy Mystery (Frosted Love Mysteries Book 3) by Carol Durand, Summer Prescott Read Free Book Online

woman.
    “Maybe. But they’re certainly not going to find any information unless they go out looking for it. I asked if they had interviewed the owner or staff of the restaurant where he was found, and they said that they could rule out the involvement of anyone at the restaurant because none of the people working there had a relationship with Elmer.”
    “Maybe that was the problem,” Missy murmured, thinking it through.
    “What was the problem?” Clara was confused.
    “I didn’t tell you the other day, because you were so upset, but I was the one who found Elmer’s body in the bayou,” she admitted.
    “You?” the widow was astonished. “What were you doing out there in the early morning?” she frowned, more confused than ever.
    “I had gone out there because the guys who came to my shop threatened me. When I asked who their boss was, they told me to go to the Crawshack Redemption and speak to Thibedeaux, so I had gone out there to do just that, when I saw…Elmer,” Missy explained. “The reason that they were threatening me was because I refused to order my dry goods from them. Didn’t you say that Elmer also refused to order from them? Maybe that’s what got him killed.” She didn’t tell the woman that she had NEXT spray-painted in red on her house and her first shop, but the realization that Elmer’s principles may have gotten him killed, gave her goosebumps, and she wondered if she was now a target.
    “Well that’s beyond silly,” Clara scoffed. “Who would kill a man simply because he refused to do business with them?”
    “Someone who cared more about money than people’s lives,” Missy suggested. “I’m going back out there to meet Mr. Thibedeaux once and for all,” she decided.
    “But, if you’re right, doesn’t that make things awfully dangerous for you?” the widow challenged, afraid.
    “Maybe,” she agreed, “But I have to find out for myself.
    “Well, let’s think about happier things for a bit, shall we?” Clara rose from her chair, beckoning Missy to follow. “Let me show you my ice cream shop, which until last week was just about the happiest place in my world.” Clara led Missy through the business, showing her the freezers and storage room, the colorful employee lounge, and the back rooms where the ice cream was actually made. As she shuffled around, showing Missy the machinery, she accidentally kicked something on the floor, crying out in pain. She looked down to see what object had made her stub her toe, and reached down to pick up the offending object. “Well, I’ll be darned,” she said breathlessly, holding the wicked-looking piece of metal up. The side of it was covered in a sticky brownish-red substance that smelled foul in a way that Missy recognized but couldn’t place.
    “What is that?” she asked Clara as the old woman stood transfixed by the sight of the object.
    “It’s a churning blade from one of the ice cream makers,” she answered, never taking her eyes from the blade.
    “Oh. Looks like you were making chocolate ice cream,” Missy guessed.
    “No, sweetie, that’s not chocolate,” Clara’s voice shook. “I think we may have just found the murder weapon.”
    Missy was stunned and silent, finally summoning the ability to speak. “We should call the police then,” she suggested shakily.
    Clara shook her head firmly. “No, absolutely not. I told you, I have a bad feeling about those folks. I think there’s something fishy going on with the sheriff’s office. Can’t you take this to your handsome detective and see what you can find out?” she pleaded.
    “I don’t know if it’s illegal to remove a murder weapon without the police knowing about it,” Missy said, hesitant.
    “But you’d be taking it to an officer of the law, so what difference would it make?” she asked.
    Weighing the pros and cons, she decided that what Clara had said seemed to make sense, so without touching the blade, she found a plastic sack under the sink