Sweet Suspects (The Donut Mysteries) by Jessica Beck Read Free Book Online Page B

when he picked up.
“We can’t find Billy Briscoe, and we can’t find you, either.”
“We’re both out in the parking lot,” the chief said.   “He was going to slip away, but I convinced him to hang around a little bit longer.”   There was a hint of smugness in the police chief’s voice, something that was easy to understand.   He had power and authority that Grace and I could never have, using the force of the law to get what he wanted, while we had to finesse our way around most situations.   It was just one more difference between us, a gap that would never be bridged.   We might be cooperating more now than we ever had before, but there would never be a time where we were equals in anyone’s eyes.   Grace and I were good at what we did, getting people to open up to us about things they would never tell the police, but when it came right down to it, we didn’t have any authority to make anyone do anything they didn’t want to do.
“Should we come out there and join you?” I asked.
“There’s really no need.   Billy and I are going to go have a little chat somewhere more private.”
“Are you taking him in?” I asked.   I couldn’t imagine how he could do that, not without a lot more evidence than he had at the moment.
“No, it’s nothing like that.   We’re just going to grab a cup of coffee and have a little chat.   I’ll talk to you both later,” he said, and then the police chief hung up on me.
“What did he say?” Grace asked as I put my phone away.
“He’s got Billy, and they’re going to go talk in private.   Oh, and we’re not invited, either.”
Grace frowned at that.   “At least he didn’t get away.”
“We don’t even know if he’s done anything,” I said.   “Should we troll for more witnesses from last night while we’re already here, or should we head back to April Springs and try to find Helen Marston and Mr. Davidson?   What’s his first name, anyway?   It seems silly to keep calling an old teacher by his last name alone.”
“Do you mean it’s not Mister?” Grace asked with a smile.
“I doubt it,” I said.   “Remind me to ask him when we see him.”
Grace nodded.   “We might as well go do that now.   There might be more people staying here who wanted to see something bad happen to Zane, but if there are, I don’t know who they might be.”
“It’s settled, then.   We head back to April Springs and ask our old teacher if he’s a murderer.”
“You’ve got to admit that we’ve had tougher conversations than that in the past,” Grace offered.
“We have,” I said, “but that doesn’t mean that I’m looking forward to this one.”
“Come on, it will be fine.   Remember, I’ll be right beside you all of the way.”
“That’s what I’m counting on,” I said as we headed out to the parking lot to retrieve my Jeep.   The chief was already gone, at least his squad car was, so I had to assume that he and Billy were about to have their own little chat.   I would love to know what they were going to discuss, but unless the chief decided to share with me later, I doubted that Billy would tell me.
For the moment, I had my own set of problems.

 
“Helen, what are you doing here?” I asked Helen Marston after she answered Mr. Davidson’s door.   It was probably a stupid question to ask her, given that she was dressed only in a man’s dress shirt, and she looked as though she’d just woken up.
“Suzanne, the real question is what are you and Grace doing here?   Do you have any idea what time it is?”
“Trust me, we know.   We’ve been up for hours already,” Grace said.   “Is Mr. Davidson around, or are you just housesitting for him?”
“Henry is in the shower,” she said matter-of-factly.
“How long have you two been an item?” Grace asked her.
“We’ve been dating for several months,” Helen said.   “Grace, there’s nothing wrong with me seeing an older man.   After all, he hasn’t been our teacher in